Twist of Fate
by Cael Luciano
Summary: Dragons. Beasts, right? Feral creatures that snatched up anything just to kill. Fields destroyed and people killed. But that's not what they are. Dragons don't fight until provoked. They only want food and don't like to kill. Only ones who've gone insane do that. Dragons like the humans and how they live. It's interesting. That's why they can look as one. Eventual Shizaya.
1. Chapter 1

**WELCOME TO A NEW STORY BY YOURS TRULY~ Hehe! This was an idea that randomly hit me while I was chatting with icywarm. The following chapter is a collaboration between the two of us~ *waves to icywarm*** **You can thank her for the summery too, (since I suck at that) and Seliphra for the title~! Thank you~!**

Somewhere, off in the dense forest of the mountains, a raven settled down in the thick foliage of branches, settling down for the night. Far from mankind and blending easily in the cloud darkened night, it was content to lower its guard for a few hours.

The bird was a clever animal, easily snatching its prey from above and always teasing those higher in the food chain, hovering just above their reach. It looked down on everything and everyone, literally. Years of such a life had made him proud, perhaps a bit egotistical. But it also made him complacent.

So when there was a rustling in the leaves below his tree, but not quite as far below as was normal, he ignored it. Probably just the wind, it told itself, tucking its wings closer to its body to keep away the biting mountain air.

The smell of smoke was what finally caused some alarm in the animal. It couldn't be humans… The nearest ones lived miles from these mountains, fearing the fierce animals there, like wolves and bears. Of course, the raven didn't need to worry about them. He could outfly them any day, if they noticed him at all. The only possible threat to the raven would have to be a Drag-

There was the rustling again, but it certainly wasn't the wind, and then there was a thudding, and then growling-the raven shifted his feathers, uncomfortable. It opened it wings, preparing to fly off as soon as it seemed safe. If it _was _a Dragon, the bird decided it didn't want to stick around and find out.

There was a moment of silence, and the raven took off. But as soon as it did, there was the sound of branching cracking, thick boughs snapping easily, and-

The raven shrieked as its entire left side was slammed with a rolling wave of heat. As it flailed, trying to get away, the feathers of its wings caught flame. Cawing madly in pain and panic, it had no time for a clever trick or getaway before a loud snap of jaws sounded, resounding through the once silent landscape.

Ravens were clever creatures, but up against a Dragon, it was only a matter of time before they became snacks.

XXX

"Hey!"

"Ngh…."

"Psst, hey, Izaya!"

"Go away Mairu, I'm trying to sleep here…."

"Izaya, it's me, Shinra!"

"Don't _care_, go away…"

"Izaya, its _Dragons!"_

Izaya sat up instantly, throwing off his thick pelt blankets and scurrying to the window where Shinra stood. "You _better_ not be messing with me! _Especially _when I'm trying to get my beauty sleep!"

Shinra snorted, but the anxious look on his face ruined the gesture. "Yes I'm serious! The men are preparing for a raid right now!"

The raven haired teen, much too old to be called a boy but still too slight to be considered a man nodded seriously. After years of self conducted study, he could smell a lie like a cat could a rat. Besides, the young village healer's assistant had been friends with him long enough to know lying to Izaya _never _ended well.

"Give me a minute, I'll be right out!"

Izaya dashed to throw on some clothes for the occasion, throwing his furry jacket on and searching for his goat hide boots, all the while struggling not to wake his sisters.

As Izaya was fumbling with the strappings on his leather armor, the door to his room creaked open. "Iza-nii?"

Izaya sighed. So much for being quiet. "Go back to bed Mairu."

"What's happening?" She asked softly, stepping into the room and eyeing her brother's armor. Her nearly mute twin Kururi hovered at the door, her wide questioning eyes mirroring her sisters.

The raven haired teen sighed, kneeling down to Mairu's level and lightly gripping her shoulders. "This is adult business, you just need to go back to bed, okay?" Mairu cast her eyes to the floor and didn't answer.

Kururi, the usually silent one, took the opportunity to speak for her sister for once. "Dragons...?"

Izaya's eyes flashed before cooling, but the twins' sharp eyes caught it. And he knew they did.

"...Yes, Kururi, it's dragons. And that's why I need you two," he said, pushing them gently out the door and towards their shared room, "to go back to bed. You of all people know the dangers of dragons."

The twins did know, and so did Izaya. After all... there was a certain incident with dragons that occurred. This incident did nothing to Izaya's feelings of 'not love' for the dragons, but made his sister's hate them.

A little over a year ago, their parents were killed by none other than a dragon. For the dragons had attacked. Neither parent had wanted their kid injured, and had gone out to fight. The result? Both of them being burnt by a dragon's fiery breath. After the battle, they were naught more than burnt crisps of people, barely recognizable.

Dragons had left the three Orihara children orphans.

Izaya thought that sad day and sighed. But then, that was just the fate of some of his humans. It happened.

Mairu growled and twisted out of Izaya's grasp, thinking of the same thing he was. "No! I won't just go to bed! You remember what those things did to our parents! I can't just sleep like nothing's wrong!" She spun to face her brother, brown eyes glowing fiercely in the dark as they met much calmer, russet eyes.

The raven just sighed. "Mairu, I know you're upset, and I understand. It's not easy, losing your parents-"

"No!" Mairu howled, shaking her head and holding back tears. "You don't understand! You never acted like they were our parents! To you they might as well have not been! You didn't care about them, and you don't care about us either!"

Kururi flinched, her eyes sad. "Mairu..."

The girl growled again, the noise being choked in a sob. Her brother reached down and tugged her and Kururi into a hug. "No, that's not true. I loved them, and I love you. I love all of you..."

Mairu sighed and hiccupped, pushing away from the only family she had left. "Yeah. You love us. All of us humans. Just... just go."

Izaya grinned widely, kissing her forehead quickly and heading for the door. "Glad you finally understand~!" He called before running out to meet Shinra.

Mairu growled, scrubbing the tears from her eyes with her little fists. "Geez, Iza-nii is such an ass, right Kururi?"

The quieter twin wrapped an arm around her sister and laid her head against her shoulder. "Safe..."

Mairu sighed and hiccupped again. "Yeah, I hope he'll come home safe too..."

XXX

Shinra panted as he struggled to keep pace with his friend. "I-Izaya!" He whined. "Why are you running?! The dragons aren't going anywhere!"

Izaya leered at his friend without slowing in the slightest. "Do you HEAR yourself right now Shinra?" He quipped, rolling his eyes. "Why are you even coming anyway? You're the healer's assistant. You HAVE to be alive at the end of this to take care of the idiots who get hurt. Not only do you not want to go, you have the perfect excuse not to! I don't get it," Izaya said, muttering the last part. He hated not understanding.

Out of the corner of his eye, Izaya saw his friend blush. "Well..."

Izaya snorted. "There's a girl, isn't there?"

Shinra jumped, freezing in place and gaping at the raven's back as he blew past him. The raven haired teen paused, waiting for his friend to catch up, which he did in a moment.

"How do you do that?!"

"Do what?"

"That!" Shinra yelled. "How you always know everything!"

"Oh." Izaya shrugged before he started running again, a bit slower this time to make it easier on the healer's assistant. "People are just so easy to read. It's not that difficult."

"Huh," Shinra muttered, chewing that over.

There was a pause where the only sound was the crunch of browned grass beneath their feet and Shinra's pants of exertion. After a bit of silence Izaya grinned cheekily. "So, what's her name~?"

Shinra choked on air and blushed hotly. "Shut up!"

Izaya chuckled. "I'll find out soon enough. Now..." His eyes narrowed slightly. It was time for the dragons. Without waiting for Shinra, he started to walk. Not even a minute passed before he saw the men of the village together in a group, dispersing weapons.

Not a second glance was given before Izaya had possession of have a dozen daggers and a short sword. Shinra however...  
"Boy! What the hell are you doing here? You'll surely be killed! Go back to the healer. We'll need you after!"

Shinra began to protest when the older man held up his finger. "I'll hear nothing of it. No one else is as good as you are. Except for the healer. It might be too much for him if you're gone, so return!" The elder man was strict, and Shinra bowed his head in apology before scurrying off.

"How many are there?" Izaya needed the information.

"Two. Maybe three, and if we're unlucky, four."

Izaya cursed. Great. Just great. That was the last thing he needed. Four dragons. "They could kill us all! Let's just hope that there's only two."

As they stood, some men arming themselves while most gathered around while the Village Leader, Kadota, planned out a battle strategy. Izaya stood off to the side on his own, sharp eyes scanning the skies. He always did his own thing in battle and pulled more than his own weight so why bother listening?

Mikado, a young village scout sauntered over to Izaya, carrying a bow and arrows. They regarded each other silently before Mikado pulled an arrow from his quiver and strung his bow and Izaya returned his gaze to the clouds.

"Can you really see while it's so dark out?" Mikado muttered, eyes shifting about warily as if the dragons might spring around the nearest corner. Izaya chuckled quietly. Mikado was usually such a bashful, jumpy boy, so it was amusing to see him so serious.

"I see fine at night~" Izaya purred without glancing over. Mikado snorted and lifted his bow. "Well when you see one, tell me where to aim."

"Were you the one who found out about the dragons coming here tonight?" Izaya asked. It was likely. Mikado was quickly becoming as skilled as himself, picking up information like a hawk spotted a cowering rodent.

Izaya scanned the skies until, finally, he pointed. "There. Brown one. It's heading to the flocks." He pointed at the sheep. "You can tell the direction because of how they're reacting. At this distance, I only see the beast, not where it's going."

Nodding, Mikado took aim. "Don't shoot until he's closer, Mikado. We don't want to waste arrows in a time like this." Mikado nodded as he kept the arrow pointed at the dragon. Brown. It blent into the night time sky, but also stood out.

The other fighting men were doing the same. Those with bows drew it taunt, ready to fire as soon as the creature was close enough to hit without worry of fire.

However, unknown to the villagers, and even Izaya, there /was/ a second dragon. It was further back in the village. For, this older and wiser dragon had flown ahead and around, to keep watch. It was law that they didn't attack unless attacked. So the midnight blue dragon was watching and waiting. When the other was attacked, he'd fire, literally.

As soon as the brown dragon was close, arrows went flying. The brown dragon roared as he twisted and turned in the air, doing his best to avoid most, if not all, of the arrows. At the same moment, the blue one roared and let out a breath of fiery air, lighting one of the empty storage houses on fire. Unless they had to, they did not want to injure the others, only grab food.

That, however, proved impossible, as men with swords ran towards the blue one, while others ran towards the brown. Izaya was one who went after the blue. It was harder to see, therefore, more of a threat.

Roaring again, the blue one landed and swished its tail, sending many men back and breaking the bones of a few of the men.

Izaya, rather than the other men who shied from that deadly tail, ducked beneath it as it swung again. Crouching low to the ground, he raced over to the body of the dragon while it was distracted by the men attempting to get a slash at its face. Snarling, the blue dragon loosed a stream of fire to scare them back a bit so he had room to take flight again.

As the dragon was unfurling its wings to take off, Izaya positioned his sword at a point on its back right haunch where the leathery skin peeked through, the scales ripped away by a healing injury, and rammed it home.

Screaming in startled agony, the older blue dragon was too shocked to react as Izaya ripped his sword free and dashed back to the safety of the other men. As soon as the dragon regained his senses he screamed again, this time in fury, swinging its huge head around to fix its dark eyes on Izaya.

Drunk on the adrenaline of battle, Izaya couldn't really be held responsible for his own actions at the moment. So when he grinned impishly and waved his sword, still dripping with blood... Well, it wasn't one of his cleverest ideas.

Snarling, the dragon swung its tail again, and when the other men jumped away and Izaya merely ducked again, he pounced.

The brown dragon let out a roar at the treatment of the other. Just stop fighting! Then they'd leave. Ignoring those who were attempting to shoot arrows at him, the brown dragon let out a breath of firey air, it burning up the wooden arrows and bows, leaving those near without a way to fight from a distance.

One of his elders was in trouble. The blue dragon needed help. Food was one thing, but to lose another of an already dying species was another. Many dragons were killed when all they tried to do was sustain themselves. All by humans. They ignore accidents, but when it was on purpose...

Roaring in pure, unfiltered rage, the brown dragon let loose another jet of the fire breath, nearly scorching Izaya's back.

/Shit. They're both here. It'd be unwise to get trapped between them. I'll be killed./ There was no way that Izaya would leave his sisters alone in the world. Body filled with adrenaline or not, he knew what to do and what not to do. So, he quickly dashed to the left, making his way to more open fields. Crops had been harvested, so there was no need to worry about losing their food, unless the store houses were torched as well.

Both dragons were in the air now. The blue one fast approaching, while the brown one surveyed the area. There was a child out. A kid! Not even a half-adult, as the youngest that were fighting were. But why?!

Izaya jumped as he heard a shrill shriek pierce the air. "KURURI!" Izaya blinked hard as he ran, his body moving on autopilot. Kururi? No, he told them to go to bed, they were still at home.

Yeah, and when have those two EVER listened to you? a snide little voice whispered in his head.

"Kururi, come back! Where are you going?!" That shrill voice, which he now recognized as Mairu, yelled louder.

Without a single thought, Izaya veered towards his sister's voice, racing as fast as he could in a half-crouch, praying to whatever gods that might exist that he would not be seen, that he could get his sisters and they would all be okay.

The blue dragon growled, much too close to Izaya for comfort. He tuned out that thunderous grumbling as he lunged for a convenient small grouping of trees. As long as the dragons didn't torch them, he'd be safe... for the moment.

Peering out to village, he managed to get a glimpse of Kururi struggling to lift a sword. Where the hell did she get that?!

Though he couldn't see him, he heard the great blue dragon take a huge intake of breath just in time for Izaya to sprint from his temporary hideout just as it was engulfed in a roaring bonfire. That could have been me, Izaya thought with a shiver.

Shaking his head, he turned back to Kururi just in time to see her be snatched up by the brown dragon.

He did not want the child to get hurt. Sure, she had been struggling to pick up a sword, but what this girl-child had seen was them torching the buildings and fighting the villagers. He had to protect her! Else she would have been torched or killed.

Now, the brown dragon had her in one claw, for it was large enough to hold her securely and safely. After a quick glance around, he saw that it was obvious they would not be getting food tonight. It was fine. They still had reserves at their den.

The brown dragon flew up high. High enough that nothing could be thrown or shot and still hit him before turning his head to the blue dragon. A roar told him that they had failed. It was time to return.

Girl still clutched in his hand, he started to fly away, his wings flapping fast as he carried the girl to safety. For he could not land to let her go. He would be killed. Perhaps, later, he'd escort her back. At daylight time.

The blue dragon blue a puff of smoke, angered that they were unable to get any extra meat before flapping his own wings and returning home. He had noted the girl in the brown one's claws, and noted that they didn't eat humans unless they were already dead and forgotten. The brown replied with he knew. And that he had saved her from being killed, but it wasn't like he could land to return her without being killed himself.

Izaya stood, frozen as his sister was tucked beneath one claw that was nearly as large as she was. A cold feeling gripped him as the dragon turned and gained altitude. Dumbstruck, it took him several moments for him to finally hear the screams in his head: You idiot, move! Get her!

Izaya lurched forward, nearly falling on his face as he ran forward, his legs moving faster than they'd ever had before. He reached the spot his sister had been mere seconds later, but the dragon was above him. What was he supposed to do?! He couldn't just LET his sister be taken away, but what was he going to do?!

Then, too late, he remembered all the daggers he had equipped himself with. He grabbed one and threw it as hard as he could, but it fell way too short.

The cold feeling crept up his throat and settled there, hindering his breathing. Hiccupping, Izaya fell on his butt, putting his face in his hands.

He hadn't felt this helpless since his parents died.

**I love this idea~**

**Izaya: I. Do not. Cry.**

**Me: Oh hush. Can anyone guess who the dragons are~? :D How many reviews should we get before we continue~?  
**

**Icywarm: Hmm. I'd say five. I think it fits.**

**Me: Five it is! Now review~!**


	2. Chapter 2

**You reviewed. Here's your reward. **

Izaya sat there for a long time. Kadota had come by, but really had nothing to say. First the raven had lost his parents and now his sister? Kadota thought the best thing for him now was to give him some time alone, which is exactly what he did.

After what seemed like an eternity, word of what happened reached Shinra. Shinra was a bit less... aware of Izaya's feelings.

"Damn, the thing just swooped down and grabbed her? She wasn't even doing anything to it?! That's just wrong, Kururi was just a kid."

"Is." Izaya snarled, finally pulling his face from his hands and glaring heatedly at the healer's assistant.

"...Huh?"

"Kururi IS just a kid. What's with the past tense? Are you stupid or something?!" Izaya snapped, shoving himself off the ground.

Shinra cringed, rubbing at one arm awkwardly as if Izaya had punched him. "Izaya, I know you don't want to lose hope or anything, but that thing's a DRAGON..."

"What's there to lose hope about? I haven't lost her. In fact, I'm going to get her right now!" Izaya growled venomously, shoving past Shinra and stalking over to his tossed dagger. He snatched it from where it had fallen and immediately headed in the direction he had seen the dragon last.

"Izaya! Wait!" Shinra ran after him. "You can't just leave!"

"Why the hell not?! Those beasts have my sister! If I don't get her, she'll be killed! Killed, Shinra!"

"So you're going to leave Mairu?!"

Izaya froze. That's right. Mairu. He cursed lightly under his breath. She would be devastated. He had to find her, make sure she was safe. Then, he'd be after the dragons. That brown one would /die/ for taking his sister. And if she was hurt at all, then he'd kill them all, not just that one.

Cursing under his breath again, Izaya turned and started to comb through their village. The fields, the forests around, homes Mairu might be hiding in. But she was nowhere. The raven's blood ran cold. She had been taken as well, or possibly eaten. For her body wasn't among the injured or dead.

Fury burned in his eyes. The raven marched straight over to the weapon rack and grabbed some more daggers, as well as his own bow and a dozen arrows. He was going. To save either both his sisters... or just one. A dragon would die for this. And if Mairu was dead or Kururi hurt... or both, he'd single-handedly kill every last one of those feral beasts.

Unknown to him, or anyone else in the village, Mairu had grabbed her own short sword and set off into the forest as soon as Kururi was in the claw of the brown dragon. She was going to get her sister back, and then they and Izaya would live together in peace, far from the village on their own, so that none may disturb them and they'd always be together.

XXX

Kururi had held still in the claw of the dragon for what felt like a long time but in reality was only a few minutes.

/I can't believe it/ she thought. /I was actually taken by a dragon./ Then, a more disturbing thought: /Will I die too?/

Almost immediately she dismissed this thought. /No. I can't die. Who will be Mairu's twin? Who will be Iza-nii's quiet little sister? It has to be me./ She nodded to herself determinedly. Her mind made up, she began to plan her escape.

She looked down over the landscape. If she was dropped from this height, there's no way she could survive. Still, it would be good to try to have the beast loosen its grip. She could spring free when it was landing and hit the ground running. Experimentally, she squirmed in the brown dragon's grasp. There was no response, so she wriggled and squirmed harder, trying to squeeze herself some space.

The dragon finally noticed and adjusted his hold. She nearly fell for a moment before he tucked her against his paw again. Now she was squeezed even tighter than before.

They were reaching the mountainous area where the dragon's caves were. Kururi had never seen it before, always shooed away from the area by her parents, and, after their death, Izaya. She sniffled a bit as she thought of him. He had been there when she was grabbed. What must he be thinking, feeling right now? What must MAIRU be thinking?!

As the girl tried to lift a hand to rub at her eyes, her hand got stuck between her sword and the claw of the dragon. Great, now she'd die all teary eyed.

Wait... Her sword! She didn't have to die teary eyed! She didn't have to die at all!

Satisfied by the promise of her escape, she closed her eyes, scenes of flayed dragons' throats a happy thought for her. Maybe she'd even get the one who'd killed her parents...

As she thought these things, she realized how late it must be. And the light rocking motion of flying was admittedly... soothing.

Dreaming of her family, both alive and dead, Kururi was rocked to sleep.

The brown dragon landed about five minutes after Kururi fell asleep. The blue was already seated on the rock. 'She is your charge now until you bring her to her village and family. I won't have a war between humans and dragons over such a small matter.' The brown nodded and let the girl go so that she rested on the rock.

It was at that moment that both dragons, blue and brown crouched low, and seemed to transform. When they were finished, they were the shape of people. What had been the blue one now seemed to be a middle-aged man, wearing a white tunic. Surprising, that tunic wasn't that dirty. His hair was black and there was a small scar on his cheek, from when he was younger and foolish.

What was the brown dragon seemed to be no older than Izaya was. His hair was blond, mud making much of it appear brown. His tunic was black with patches of white that were dirtied to grey here and there. Neither had shoes, but the bottom of their feet were calloused, so that it didn't matter.

What had been the brown dragon knelt down and picked Kururi up, and held her close to his chest. "Shiki, could you go and prepare something for her? Perhaps a leg of mutton or something."

The blue-dragon in human form, now known as Shiki, nodded. "Of course, Shizuo. I'll also make sure to cook it. Humans are too fragile, unable to eat meat unless it is cooked, else they fall ill. Why don't you place her in your bed? She needs rest."

The brown dragon, now known as Shizuo, nodded. "Of course. And I'll keep her safe. Maybe I'll even get one of my treasures for her to play with." Dragons collected gems and gold, trinkets from abandoned villages and anything that sparkled. It was their treasures.

With that, both of the dragons walked into the cave. Shiki heading to where the meat was stored, and Shizuo to the bed. He just had to wait for the girl-child to wake. He didn't like calling her girl-child or girl or child. He'd like to know a name.

Kururi woke to the smell of cooked meat. Stirring, for a moment she lost herself to the soft bed beneath her and the smell of food. Had she been rescued while she slept? Stretching, she called out quietly.

"Mairu...? Iza-nii...?"

Shizuo shifted uncomfortably. Even if it was for her safety, he'd taken her from her family. Well, at least she wouldn't wake to huge dragons looming over her. Most people didn't even know dragons could shapeshift, which made it much easier for them to hide.

"No child, they're not here," Shiki answered as he passed the food to the blonde.

Kururi squeezed her eyes shut tighter, confused. She... hadn't been rescued? Then where was she? There was one way to find out...

Kururi opened her eyes and looked up. The first thing she saw was Shizuo, standing over her bed. She stared for a moment. Something about him seemed familiar...

Shizuo took the meat from Shiki and offered it to Kururi. "Hungry? We had it cooked for you."

"Cooked for me?" She sat up and took the meat though. Mutton. But this wasn't a celebration. So why was she eating it? Still, she didn't argue as she took a bite, savoring the sweet and yet salty taste of the meat.

Shiki nodded. "Yeah. People can't eat it raw, right?"

Kururi nodded. "Right... Who?"

"I'm Shiki, and this is Shizuo. You are?"

"Kururi..." She wanted her siblings though. Where were they?

"Kururi," Shizuo repeated, smiling. He had been right to save this girl. She didn't belong out in harm's way. What was her family thinking, letting her out by herself? The blonde almost felt inclined to keep her. She would be safer here anyway.

Chewing another bite of mutton, Kururi realized what Shiki had said earlier. "Not... people?"

Shizuo blanched as he realized what she was getting at. He had kind of hoped she wouldn't realize, would ask questions... "Yes... We're not really like you, Kururi."

Kururi swallowed thickly, and without removing her eyes from the 'not-people' before her, felt around for the hilt of her sword.

Shizuo had left the sword outside, and Shiki had grabbed it. The older male shook his head. "It isn't here. But we aren't going to attack you." Shiki pointed his thumb at Shizuo. "He saved you, so he'd risk his life for you if one of us went insane until you're back at home."

Shizuo nodded. "Yeah." And he would too. It was probably obvious to the girl that they were dragons. But it was obvious that they were different than what she thought of them. The blond wondered if Kururi had any more questions.

Kururi sniffed. Should she just... accept that? She was in the home of the same creatures that killed her parents, and she should just be okay with the fact that as long as they didn't go insane, she'd be safe here?

Blinking once, Kururi nodded. "Okay."

Shizuo started. That was all she had to say? She wasn't even going to demand that she be taken home that instant to be away from them?

"Okay?" He repeated dumbly.

"Okay," she reaffirmed, taking another bite of her food. Of course Kururi wasn't 'okay' with it. But until she got her sword back, what could she do but smile and go with it?

Shiki frowned and left the two of them alone.

Shizuo rubbed the back of his head. "Anyway, if you want, starting tomorrow, I can bring you back. We'll have to walk though. I don't want to be attacked."

Because then he'd have to fight. And he hated violence. He sighed now. "I really don't like fighting. It just leads to pain and suffering and death." He seemed sad at that statement, knowing that he had killed a few. It hurt him.

"Death," Kururi agreed, her face calm but her eyes far away. She knew very well what dragons did. And was this one lying to her? He seemed sincere... but then again, he was a dragon. Somehow. She was still processing the fact that dragons could apparently assume human shape.

What if she had met one before and had never realized...?

Shizuo looked into her dulled eyes and tried to smile. "No need to be scared or anything. If you want, I'll just leave you alone until we're ready to go."

She nodded again, but didn't really ask him to leave. Well, she was a quiet one. Shizuo decided to leave her to finish her meal.

He sighed and made his way outside the cave, and sat down on the rocks overlooking the mountain. She had originally asked for a brother, 'Iza-nii', so Mairu was probably her sister. What of parents? He frowned, thinking. Had they perhaps had been killed by one of them? It wasn't impossible.

He sighed and let himself fall backwards, so that he was staring at the stars. Tomorrow morn, at first light, they'd leave. He'd bring food for them to cook. The rest, he could hunt. Maybe he should give her a trinket. After all, sharing treasures showed sereneness.

Kururi finished off the rest of her mutton and, having nothing better to do, looked around the cave. The bed she was laying in was tucked into a far corner, and... there wasn't really much else there. Weren't dragons supposed to have hoards of treasure tucked away in their caves? And why did Shizuo need such a big cave when he didn't have a hoard?

Thinking about it, Kururi decided he must spend most of his time as a dragon, and needed the room to move around. But then... what was the bed for? She thought of her own experiences. She had shared a bed with her sister her whole life, and for a month or so after their parents died they'd sleep in their brother's room. With that in mind, Kururi decided Shizuo must have a brother or sister that didn't find it acceptable to sleep on the floor.

Now that she had satisfied her hunger and curiosity, she felt bored. Should she get up and explore? But then she'd run into more dragons...

Just as Kururi was about to get up, another male walked into the room. He was in human form as well, and seemed to be similar to Shizuo. This man wore a purple tunic.

"...You're new."

"Brought."

"Did nii-san save you?"

That surprised Kururi. But it also confirmed her thoughts. Shizuo did have a sibling. A brother. Younger brother as well. Kururi nodded at that. "Kidnap."

"Then you would have died otherwise." The male made his way over to the bed and sat down at the edge. "Nii-san hate fighting. It makes him happy that we don't fight back unless people like you attack first."

Kururi blinked and tilted her head to the side. "Dragons attack."  
"We want food. Not death. But game is hard to get in the forest without destroying trees. And beasts flee the fields when we fly. Difficult to hunt in this form. We haven't had to. Instead we take a few sheep and cows from your herds. Then we eat them in this form, so they last longer. Otherwise all of the peoples' herds would be gone. And you'd have to farm all year to live."

"Kill."

Kasuka shook his head. "On accident. Self defense. Or would you let yourself and those you care about be attacked and killed while you stayed there and watched?"

Kururi frowned. Those were valid points. She herself had tried to help when the dragons attacked. But then, if people had to attack first, why did they? Was it because they did take from the herds? And then that evolved into people thinking that dragons were evil? Perhaps...

"I'm Kasuka."

"Kururi."

Kasuka nodded. "Nii-san will start walking you home tomorrow. We don't want to separate you from your family. Nor do we want to keep you here forever. Dragons only eat humans if one is already dead on a battle field, as an example, with no one to to claim the body and there is a great hunger. We only attack without someone provoking us if we go crazy, and neither me nor my brother have met another dragon who has gone crazy.

"You should sleep now. For you'll be woken at first light. I'm sure nii-san has told you this, but you'll have to walk. Else he'll be killed on sight. And if you're riding with him, and he's shot down, it could well be the end of you."

With that, Kasuka stood, and walked out of the area, deeper into the caves.

With much to dwell on, Kururi laid down, pulled the blankets up, and went to bed.

**I love Kururi's logic~ (and she's even kinda right!)**

**Me: Quick, say something random.**

**Icywarm: We hope you enjoy this now leave reviews if you want chapter three~ We're working on this fic everyday through FB.**

**Me: My librarian is bad at explaining plot! She was talking about Hunger Games to some freshman and I was just so mad sitting there in the library where it's **_**supposed **_**to be quiet! What a hypocritical librarian! Oh and remember at least FIVE MORE REVIEWS til next chapter. So if the total reviews aren't at least ten, don't be expecting an update.**

**Icywarm: Haha.**


	3. Chapter 3

**You reviewed. Again. *smile* Keep it up~**

Izaya was started awake that morning when something wet dripped right on his nose. He twitched, confused. Was there a leak in the roof or something? And why was he feeling so uncomfortable...?

Opening his eyes, Izaya understood. He wasn't at home. He'd walked all night, following the direction the dragon had taken. Now he was resting against the trunk of a huge tree. After hours of trudging through the dark, cold forest he'd taken a moment to sit and rest. And that's where his memory ended.

Izaya scowled, fuming at himself. How could he fall asleep while his sisters were out there somewhere, terrified and maybe about to be eaten. He had lost precious time and it was all his fault.

The downtrodden raven shoved himself up and nearly fell back down. He couldn't have been asleep long, because he was still disorientated and groggy, as well as sore from his awkward position all night. But the worst was his legs.

Izaya had often had heard himself described as a big cat- graceful, deadly, and very fast. But big cats could only run for so long before tiring out. He wasn't fit for trekking.

He growled at his own inadequacy. He'd never felt weak in any way, but then again he'd always been able to rest up in his warm bed and eat hearty food at home before he had to face the day.

But it didn't matter. He had to get his sisters back. He'd worry about getting into shape later.

Just as he stepped out from the tree, more wetness plopped right on his head, soaking his hair and shoulders. Sputtering, he ducked back under the sheltering branches just as it began to pour.

Izaya cursed under his breath. Of all his luck! It was raining! Raining! How the hell was he supposed to rescue his sisters now? He couldn't. Not until the rain subsided. That was for sure.

Not that far away was another of the three Orihara's. Mairu, to be exact. She growled herself at the rain before kicking a tree. "Stupid, stupid rain. I have to save Kururi. And I can't go out in this downpour, else I'll fall ill and pass away. Especially without the elder near-by."

She scowled. If this was later on in her journey, then it'd be fine. She'd be weary and it'd be the perfect opportunity to rest her traveled body so that she could save Kururi. But this! One day from the start was pointless! It did nothing but hinder her.

"Kururi better not be dead when I get there."

Kururi was awake and waiting to leave when the rain had started coming down. Sighing, she plopped down on the edge of her bed. If they went out into the rain with winter fast approaching, she'd never make it. How long would she have to wait to see her family?

After a moment Shizuo ducked into the cave, shaking water from his hair. It was dark there, but Kururi hadn't minded last night since she'd been asleep. But now, alone with only the dragons in the darkness... she shuddered.

Shizuo's sharp eyes picked up on her discomfort right away. "Are you cold?" He asked, and before Kururi could answer he strode over, lifted the blanket from the bed, and wrapped it around her shoulders.

Kururi was proud of herself for keeping her fear under control, not even flinching when the dragon touched her.

Shizuo shifted from heel to heel, feeling uncertain. If he had been walking her home, there wouldn't really be a need for conversation but now... Was he supposed to entertain her?

"I, uh, got you something." Out of the pocket of his tunic, Shizuo pulled out a trinket. It seemed to be an amulet of some sort. It was gold, on a chain, and flipped open and closed. There were pretty designs woven all around it, but otherwise there was nothing special about it.  
"Its from my horde. To show you that I mean no harm and that you're a friend. After all, you must know that dragons will fight to the death to protect what is their treasure, right?"

As Kururi took the trinket, she nodded. It was pretty. And expensive. Something a king or queen would have. "Where?"

Shizuo blinked. "WHere? Do you mean where did I get this?" Kururi nodded. "Ah. Really, I found that laying outside of a battlefield. No one was around, so I took it. I think that was three or so years ago."

Again, Kururi just nodded and clasped her hand around the trinket. Were they leaving today? Surely not with all the rain. "We'll have to wait until the rain stops. It'd be suicide to walk out now. Unless I went as dragon. But then, you'd have to climb down pretty much alone, and I'd be a target."

"Right." Kururi nodded. She'd already deduced that. So she was stuck her for a little longer. Not having anything better to do, she examined the necklace in her hand.

Kururi had never really taken interest in material things. If she had her family, a roof over her head and a bed to sleep in, what was there to complain about? Jewelry like this was more of Mairu's thing, though her twin was in no way greedy. Maybe she could gift it to her.

Wait, Kururi thought. Should I really be accepting a gift from a DRAGON? I thought I was supposed to grab my sword, kill and injure as many as possible and take off like a bat out of hell.

...Well. It's not like she had her sword on her. And it WAS raining.

Shizuo watched as the girl examined his little treasure, a small smile on his face. Maybe he'd done something right for once. Maybe he could convince her that dragons weren't the way they were made out to be. And if he could convince one, why not more?

Okay, so maybe the blonde was getting ahead of himself. But the prospect of a peaceful (or at least less hateful) relationship with the humans was such an improvement to reality.

"Do you like it?" Shizuo asked.

"Pretty," Kururi answered, clasping it around her neck. Why not? It wouldn't make up for the time they'd been apart, but having the trinket might make her sister happy.

Shizuo smiled a bit more. "If you want, I could show you around. You know, just some of the other dragons and where to get food. I mean, only if you want."

Kururi shook her head. "Fine here." Shizuo nodded in understanding.

"Well then, you must want something else. I don't think that humans just lay about all day. Then again, I'm not really close to them." He rubbed the back of his head. Ah, perhaps she'd tell him about humans so he could learn. Or maybe she'd ask questions.

"Kasuka?"

Shizuo blinked. Kasuka? Had she met his brother? "Kasuka is my little brother. Two years younger. He doesn't really talk much, and doesn't go out to get meat."

"Sad..." Kururi murmured, and somehow, despite her blank face and inflectionless tone Shizuo understood she was asking a question. He thought for a moment, trying to decipher what she could be asking. After a minute he came up with a good guess.

"Is Kasuka sad?" He clarified, and Kururi nodded.

"Well... I wouldn't say sad. He's just reserved for our kind. I mean, you're pretty quiet, but not because you're sad... Wait. Are you sad here, Kururi?" Shizuo asked, a bit of pain in his tone. He had assumed she was just quiet all the time...

"No."

"Oh. Okay, that's good. So you're this quiet all the time then?"

"Mairu."

"...Um, sorry, I don't understand."

Kururi frowned. At home, Mairu and Izaya always understood her, and everyone else in the village at least had an idea about what she was saying. So, she tried something else. "Other half."

Shizuo frowned, confused. "Mairu other half?" That didn't make any sense, unless... He frowned thinking. "Is she your twin?" Twins had a special sort of power. They would always find each other and were never a 'whole' unless they were together, or at least close.

Kururi nodded. "Mairu." Mairu was the talk-a-tive one.

Shizuo smiled, still a bit lost. "So... you let Mairu do the talking then?" He grinned as she nodded. He had a lot to learn about humans, and it seemed that the quiet girl could be a good lesson for him.

"I bet you miss her..." He mused. Again she nodded, and her face fell a bit. "Miss. Iza-nii."

"Ah," Shizuo replied lamely, scratching his head awkwardly. "Well when the rain lets up I'll get you back to them."

"Soon?" Kururi asked, her eyes lighting up slightly.

"Hopefully," Shizuo said. Feeling a bit bold, the blonde stepped closer and patted her head softly, meaning to be comforting.

However, Kururi flinched at the contact, not yet convinced that dragons were something other than what they believed. Shizuo frowned and immediately stepped away from her.

"...Sorry." He didn't really say anything else as he sat at the edge of the bed, ready to leave if Kururi wanted him to. "So, um, how old are you?"

"...Twelve..." Ah. So he was right. She was but a girl-child. Not a half-adult. They had to fifteen to be that.

"Well, I'm twenty-one." Dragons and humans used the same calendars. "Kasuka is nineteen and Shiki, who was the other you've seen, is thirty-seven."

Kururi showed no reaction to this. Shizuo might as well have not said anything. So much for making her comfortable.

"So..." Shizuo began, floundering around for an interesting subject. "...How old's your brother?"

"Twenty."

"So he's about my age then."

"Hm."

Well. That conversation ended quickly.

"What's your brother like? Does he take care of you and Mairu?"

"...Iza-nii loves."

"He loves you two?"

"Everyone..."

Shizuo blinked. Had he heard right? "He loves everyone?"

"Yes."

"But... how can he love EVERYONE? What about people he hasn't even met?"

"Loves."

"..." Shizuo could not understand what the young girl was implying. There was someone who actually existed who loved everyone, regardless of who they were?! ...Regardless of... what they were?

"Does he… love me?" The blonde was not sure what had made him say those words. Morbid curiosity? Or... something else?

"No. Humans."

"...Oh. So he loves everyone as long as they're human," Shizuo muttered, feeling oddly disappointed. Kururi nodded. "So does he hate dragons then?"

"No."

"He likes them?"

"Maybe."

Shizuo started feeling frustrated, He hadn't even MET this person and he was already confusing him! "I think I'd like to meet your brother, Kururi."

"Kill."

Shizuo frowned. "He'd kill me?"

Kururi nodded.

The simple nod left a sour taste in Shizuo's mouth. Here she had said that perhaps he would have liked him, yet if he met him, he'd be killed. "Even if he met me like this?"

Again, Kururi nodded. "Dragon."

"If he knew I was a dragon?"

"Yes."

So if he wanted Kururi's brother to like him... he had to lie about who he was. That thought left another sour taste in his mouth. It wasn't like him to lie so openly without good reason. And a human friend wasn't a good reason.

Dragons in nature, or perhaps it was just their clan, didn't like to cause unnecessary well, bad feelings. If they could, they honored something, only lying if they absolutely needed to. Different dragon clans didn't have to follow after this. Every clan was distinct and different.

Shizuo was different among his own clan. It was if he was placed there from another clan. 'Too kind' he was called by some. This was shown by how he risked his life, and is going to continue to do so, just to save Kururi from battle. He was quick to defend anyone he thought was wrongly accused, and would go out of his way to help others. He also hated fighting, yet because of who he was, he could not avoid it.

Once, he overheard his own mother tell another that it'd be better if he was born a human, and not a dragon. He didn't know who she was telling, but it made him disappointed. His own mother didn't think he was dragon-like, though he did his best, save for when he lost his temper. Luckily, he hadn't for a long while, a few years.

If he could, Shizuo would live as human, but among every clan, that was forbidden.

"Okay?"

Shizuo blinked his eyes, not realizing that he had gotten lost in his thoughts. "Are you asking if I'm okay?" Kururi nodded. "Yeah. Sorry. You want me to go? Or are you hungry?" He really didn't know what to do.

Kururi thought about it. She was a little hungry, and she could use a minute to gather her thoughts. "Hungry."

"Okay," Shizuo smiled softly. Out of habit, he reached out to ruffle her hair, like he often did with his brother. Kururi tensed, and he pulled his hand away at the last second. Cringing lightly, he stepped away from her.

"Sorry," he muttered as he left. Kururi waited till he was gone before exhaling heavily, flopping on her back onto the bed.

Why did she feel the need to comfort a dragon? Sure, he'd looked human and seemed truly upset, but Kururi knew better. She knew the truth. Dragons took away her parents. And now they'd separated her from her family. She shouldn't feel sorry for one of them. Ever.

So why did she?

"Confused..." She whispered to the darkness. All her life, dragons were the evil ones, the villains, stealing livestock and killing people just because they could. This had been permanently ingrained into the Orihara family after what had happened.

The quiet little girl just couldn't accept that dragons were different.

So maybe it was Shizuo that was different.

**I'm going on a little trip this weekend, so the soonest I can get chapter four out is Sunday night. Sorry guys. Remember, review to get more~ :D How many reviews should we get?**

**Icywarm: Hm. I like getting five, but it seems like people don't review if they see it already has the amount. Why don't we ask for six and see if the people are reading these author's notes?**

**Me: Kay~! Random question?**

**Icywarm: Random question? About what?**

**Me: You know that moment when you're bleeding and you can't remember when you cut yourself or how?**

**Icywarm: Yeah. I found my toe bleeding once.**

**Me: Okay good. *stares at blood* I thought it was just me.**

**Icywarm: Go get a band-aid or something while I work on chapter four.**

**Me: Kay~!**

**Izaya: Stop putting random shit in the postscript!**

**Me: NEVER!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi lovely readers~ please enjoy this chappy!**

Finally! The rain subsided. It was early in the morning, but Izaya had been awake most of the night. Now that the downpour was over... His eyes locked on the mountain. You couldn't see it from the village, but here you saw caves. Caves and dragons. That's where Kururi and Mairu was, he was sure. So without further delay, he started to move.

Mairu stiffened. She had just woken, and was groggy, but those were footsteps. Footsteps meant danger. She stiffened, and as soon as she saw the shadow of the man, she jumped, ready to attack and to kill.

"Mairu!"

Immediately, she stopped. She knew that voice. "...Iza-nii?"

Izaya's eyes were wide with emotion. Mairu. It was Mairu. She had set out on her own? So the dragons only had Kururi then. They'd have to get her. Because there was no way Izaya was going to back-track with his sister to get her to go back to the village. And there was even less of a chance then that that he'd send her back on her own.  
Izaya didn't hesitate as he wrapped his arms around Mairu, actually hugging her. He didn't let go either. "I'm so glad you're safe. When I couldn't find you in the village, not in the dead or in the injured... I... I feared that they had taken you with your sister." There was fear in Izaya's voice. Genuine fear that that she had been taken. "Come on, we have to get Kururi. And fast. I only can fear what's being done to her at this very moment."

Mairu nodded. "Yes. We'll have to kill every last one of them and bring Kururi back."

Izaya had not intended to kill any dragons unless on of his sisters had actually been harmed, but he couldn't be wavering in front of his baby sister. She was scared and needed her sister back, and he'd be damned if he didn't do just that.

Izaya nodded, tucking his sister close to him. "Stay close Mairu. We'll get her back, no matter what.

XXX

Kururi decided to make a little compromise with herself. She would not change her views about dragons... so she would behave as if Shizuo and his brother were not. If he would go through all the trouble to protect her and make her feel comfortable, then she'd trust him. After all, Kururi was always the one listening, and watching. Over the years she'd become an extremely accurate judge of character.

It was settled. She'd stay with Shizuo until she got back home. But... then what?

Were she and the strange dragon... friends?

Shizuo didn't think they were friends. Friends trusted each other and confined in each other. Kururi flinched when he even ruffled her hair. It wasn't exactly a friendship. Instead, it seemed to a... an instinct of survival that didn't send Kururi running, at least in Shizuo's eyes.

Come first light, Shizuo walked into the room carrying a pack of meat on his back. It was salted and would last about a week, though he knew it'd take longer to get there on foot.  
He shifted lightly. "I've packed food. It's heavy, so I'm carrying it. If you want shelter other than what's out there, you'll have to carry a smaller pack yourself."

At that, Kururi nodded and shouldered the small pack. "Let's go."

As they exited the cave together, two dragons in human form stood outside, waiting. Kasuka, and Shiki.

"Well, we'll be going now. If everything goes according to plan, I'll be back in several days." No one mentioned what would happen if everything DIDN'T go according to plan. Kasuka lowered his eyes to Kururi, and they regarded each other for a moment. The quiet dragon wondered why his brother was risking his life for such a small little human. Kururi was just imagining what the other would look like as a dragon.

Another moment passed, with Shizuo looking puzzled and Shiki amused. Then Kasuka turned away, tossing a soft, "See you soon, Niisan," over his shoulder as he left.

"Yeah..." Shizuo replied slowly. He turned to Shiki then, smiling slightly. "Will you be able to handle things while I'm away?" Shizuo asked, only half joking. Just because he hadn't lost his temper in a while didn't mean he wasn't one hell of a fighter. When one of the clan went insane or started fighting over petty shit like who saw a glittering gold ring on the battlefield first, Shizuo was usually the first one they turned to.

Shiki just snorted. "Yes, however am I going to handle my own clan while you're away," he muttered dryly, rolling his eyes.

Shizuo grinned and started off. "Keep Kida out of my horde while I'm away."

Shiki scoffed. "He knows what happens if you steal from another's horde. And if he doesn't, I'll make sure he does." With that, Kururi and Shizuo were alone outside.

There was silence for a few moments before "How?"

"How what?"

"Down."  
"How will we get down?" Kururi nodded.

Shizuo sighed. "There's a path. COme on."

For while, they were both silent. After all, what was there to talk about? Nothing, really. They were quiet until they reached the bottom of the mountains.

"...Tired."

"We can rest for a bit then, if you want. I'd carry you, but we're both wearing packs."

Kururi nodded. She might like Shizuo, but she wasn't ready to be carried by him again, though he was in human form this time.

Shizuo and Kururi sat in the dying grass at the base of the mountains and said nothing. The sun had risen higher as they walked, so Shizuo guessed it was about mid-morning.

Kururi shrugged off her pack and laid back in the grass, not minding the dampness from the earlier rain. Though the walk down had warmed her with the slight exertion, it was still quite cold here near the mountains. It looked like winter was fast approaching. Kururi stretched out, enjoying the feel of sunshine on her exposed skin. It was such a pleasant feeling that, even though she was very well rested, she fell right back asleep.

Shizuo glanced over to the girl who was even more silent than usual and saw her asleep. He chuckled. He'd never met a human who could just fall asleep right next to a dragon. Then again, he'd never met a human who had got this close to him without screaming or attacking either.

Shizuo smiled lightly and let her rest for a few minutes before lightly touching her shoulder. "Kururi, you can't sleep during the day. We must travel with the light." He quickly retracted his hand before she opened her eyes, as not to startle her.

Kururi slowly opened her eyes and yawned before stretching, standing, and grabbing her pack. "Ready."

Shizuo smiled and nodded as he started to walk. He kept to the path of dears, and made sure that the girl was close to him at all times. The forest was dark, but they were never without light.

They walked for several hours, only breaking for lunch and to relieve themselves. They stopped for good for the night once the moon was high.

"We can't walk through the night. Give me your pack, and I'll set up shelter. Then I'll cook the food." With a small wood fire, not his breath. Transforming here would harm many of the trees and creatures of the forest.

Shizuo diligently gathered kindle for the fire and started it with two small stones like any normal human. Kururi watched him for lack of anything better to do. She thought she should help him, but she was so tired from walking all day. Maybe she wasn't as fit as she thought she was.

As Shizuo got the fire going and started cooking, he was faced with a slight dilemma. Where should he sleep?

Kururi obviously wouldn't be too happy with cuddling up close to him. But if he sleep far from her, he couldn't keep as close an eye on her. These woods were dangerous. Full of wolves and bears and anything else you could think of. They'd been lucky not to encounter anything during the day, but Shizuo knew the creatures of the forest grew bolder in the dark.

Ah wait, there was an answer. He'd just sleep outside of the shelter while she was inside. The creatures of the forest dare not come that close to a dragon, human form or not. For even in the form of a human, dragons possessed a great deal of strength. Enough to fend off a small child dragon whom was in dragon form, if need be.

Finally, the meat was cooked. He divided it up evenly before handing a portion to Kururi. "When you're done, it's time to retire for the night." He pointed towards a small tent. "That shall be your shelter. I'll sleep out here, right in front. So none may harm you without first killing me."

Kururi nodded, and without really stopping to think what she was doing, reached out a small hand and patted Shizuo's cheek. Shizuo froze, eyes widening.

Kururi was a bit surprised at herself. She rarely ever touched anyone unless necessary, and then it was only her family. But she didn't show that, merely turned to her food and started eating.

Shizuo smiled and ate his food. He made sure to bury the scraps so that scavengers wouldn't come. "You may rest now, Kururi. I'll make sure none get you."

That morning, somewhere close by, the other two Orihara's were just waking up. Izaya had planned to jump the strange blond man that had somehow gotten his sister away from the dragons as soon as he fell asleep, but Mairu had put an end to those plans. As soon as night had fallen she'd barely been able to keep her eyes open, and when he'd suggested he grab Kururi while she rested, she'd protested vehemently.

As Mairu started drifting off to sleep, Izaya had gotten up, about to silently stalk off, she'd sprung up and latched onto his neck. Still half entangled in a nightmare, she'd wailed and smacked him, crying for her sister and their parents. Stricken, he had taken her body into his arms (was she always this small? he wondered) and rocked her back to sleep. When she was sound asleep, she had refused to remove her hands from his coat, so there was no chance of him going that night.

Now that it was light, Izaya roused Mairu. "Up. Our sister, Mairu. We have to go before it's too late!"

Mairu sat up and rubbed her eyes. "No breakfast?"

Izaya shook his head. "After we get Kururi, alright?"

She nodded and gathered the things up. "Alright. Let's go."

Together, they stalked towards the camp of Kururi and the blond man.

Shizuo had woken his quiet charge earlier and had round up some breakfast in the form of some local game. They'd eaten in peaceful silence, used to each other's presence already. As they'd packed up their things to go, Shizuo had stiffened, looking around and scenting the air. Of course, being in human form, his sense of smell was less potent, but he was sure he smelled-

Shizuo glanced down at Kururi as she tugged at his sleeve. "Okay," she asked, frowning a bit in concern.

He smiled down at her, trying not to look worried. "I'm sure it was nothing. Let's go."

Izaya nodded to Mairu. They couldn't hear what was being spoken, but one thing was for certain, that was definitely their sister there.

Izaya held up his hand, three fingers up. They counted down. Three... two... one... zero.

Both charged from the bush, their weapons raised to attack the blond man. After all, if he was from another village, he could easily be taking Kururi to wed a man.

Shizuo's eyes widened slightly, and he grabbed Kururi before jumping out of the way of the weapons. Were these warriors? No... They looked familiar.

Shizuo didn't even notice Kururi wasn't in his arms anymore until he saw her in front of him, arms outstretched as if to protect him.

"Kururi," two shocked male voices snapped together. Shizuo reached out to pull her away from between him and the others and Izaya growled, brandishing his sword and advancing towards them.

"Hands off my sister!" Izaya growled and Mairu shouted, also having to be held back by the raven haired male.

Shizuo blinked, taking a moment to process that, his fingers still lingering on Kururi's arm. While he was distracting Izaya swiftly closed the distance between them, taking a swing with his sword at the blonde's hand.

Shizuo knew that he if drew his hand away, Kururi's shoulder would be hit instead. So he grit his teeth and let the sword slice his skin. "Are you an idiot?! If I drew my hand away, you would have just cut her!"

Izaya faltered, and pulled away. He hadn't thought about that at all. He had just wanted to make sure his sister was safe and get her away from him.

"No fighting. Good."

Mairu blinked. "He's good, Kururi?" She nodded.

"So he miraculously rescues you from the dragons, and then takes it upon himself to take you home?" Izaya snorted. "Right. And I'm sure the noble hero excepts nothing but gratitude and the knowledge that he has done a good deed as his reward," he hissed, glaring at both Shizuo and his sister.

Kururi was completely unfazed by her brother's venomous words. She merely nodded and repeated "Good."

Izaya scowled, not used to having the quieter of his two sisters opposing him. He was also confused. Kururi usually had such good judgment... Was it possible that this stranger _was_ just trying to help his sister, with no strings attached?

In his humans, he'd never seen anything like this unconditional act of kindness. And it was strikingly suspicious.

"Does he even know where we live?" Izaya finally asked, glaring less but still skeptic.

"I know the way," Shizuo muttered, flexing his bleeding hand to check the extent of damage. He cringed as the cut skin was stretched, but felt no torn tendons.

"How?" Izaya asked flatly. "I've never seen you before, and I never forget a face." Though something about him seemed familiar...

This time Kururi answered hurriedly. "Traveler."

Izaya scowled. "He doesn't look like a traveler. Travelers are usually dirty and muddy."

"My hair has mud in it, and I recently got new clothes."

His scowl deepening, Izaya glanced at his hair, and was surprised to see that it wasn't brown, but blond. "Fine." He snorted. "You can go now. I shall take both of my sister's home. You can travel."

Shizuo frowned, uncertain. He had actually been enjoying his time with Kururi, despite their inherent social awkwardness. But this was her family. She should go with them.

He glanced down at her face, wondering what she thought of this.

Kururi glanced back up at him before looking to her siblings. "Stay. Protection."

Now it was Mairu who scowled. "You want him to stay for extra protection?" At Kururi's nod, she continued. "I guess that makes sense, as long as he doesn't leech off of us."

"I won't leech of you. I have a tent I can stay in once you reach your village, and I can hunt myself." Easily too.

Izaya growled, sheathing his sword. "I'm not letting some random stranger come travel with us, especially when I haven't heard the whole story. How _exactly_ did you save Kururi from the dragons?"

Shizuo cringed. He really did _not_ want to lie. But he also didn't want to die.

Again, Kururi sensed the blonde's discomfort and intervened. "Save. Fight."

"He fought off the dragon who grabbed you?"

"Yes."

Shizuo bit his lip and said nothing. Lying was one thing, but if Kururi's brother tried to kill him right now, he'd either get killed or have to transform, risking hurting all of them in this enclosed space.

"What about the other dragon, the blue one?" Izaya persisted, refusing to be deterred.

"Ran."

"You outran a DRAGON?"

Shizuo motioned around the trees. "Think about this area. All the trees. This particular forest is condensed. How freely could a dragon move throughout it without either tearing the trees, which would harm its scales and therefore it, or torching the trees, which would cause it to relocate?"

He didn't want to refer to his own species as an it... but he had to. Else... well he didn't want to endanger Kururi. And those things were true. It would hurt his scales or make the forest inhabitable, so they'd have to move.

Izaya glared. There was still something off about the man's story... Something that was out of place. Or maybe something that had been added.

Then he saw it, glimmering in the corner of his eye.

"What's that," Izaya demanded flatly, pointing to the gold amulet around his sister's neck. Kururi blinked, bringing her hand up to touch the trinket, having forgotten it was even there.

Izaya strode forward and grabbed the amulet from Kururi. He did his best not to hurt her, but he likely still scratched her a bit. Thankfully, it didn't seem to hurt her.

"This... This is from a dragon's horde. How did you get his?" His eyes were narrow, accusing. Not to his sister, but to Shizuo.

/He can't really know it's from a horde just by looking at it, can he?/ Shizuo wondered frantically. "I just found that on one of my travels." Not really a lie...

"Really," Izaya said, narrowing his eyes almost to slits.

"Really," Kururi chimed in.

"I don't particularly believe you. This... this looks like pure gold. You can't get it just from wandering. I doubt you can perform the great deed needed to be done to win this, and you don't look the kind to lie. Then again, looks deceive."

Mairu tugged on Izaya's sleeve."Iza-nii. If it was taken from a dragon, either he has the skill to kill them, is sneaky, or is on friendly terms with one."

Izaya frowned. "True... He isn't trustworthy." Izaya pulled Kururi away from Shizuo. "We won't' be needing your services. It isn't that far from our village. We'll be fine."

Shizuo cringed, glancing down at Kururi. It was for the best, he reminded himself. Kururi said nothing as her brother began to lead her away.

Just as they were reentering the forest to head home, Kururi tugged at her brother's sleeve and whispered something. Shizuo frowned as Izaya bent down to listen to her, also frowning. After a moment, Izaya sighed and gestured impatiently. Kururi lips lifted ever so slightly into a smile as she hurried back over to Shizuo.

He frowned further, even more confused. Kururi reached for Shizuo's hand. He leaned down to her level and muttered "I don't understand..."

Kururi took Shizuo's hand, still bleeding a bit, into her own small one. "You save. I help."

Shizuo was still frowning, not really understanding. "Help with what?"

"Bleeding. Village. Better."

Shizuo blinked. He didn't grasp it fully, but got the main idea. "You want me to come back to the village so you can fix my hand?"

Kururi nodded and tugged Shizuo over to where Izaya and Mairu were. "Ready."

Izaya just gave Shizuo an annoyed glance before motioning them to walk. "We should be at the village before noon. We aren't that far and the day is but just starting. So let's hurry up."

**Me: ….****Oh btw... say something for the A/N.**

**Icywarm: For the a/n? Um. Uh... um. Hi readers. omg I'm so bad with these sometimes.**

**Me: Um. Something about reviews and Shizaya.**

**Icywarm: Uh... Review if you want more, and/or like Shizaya.**

**Me: You heard her! Review! …Please? :D**

**At MikuStar7: Thank you! :D**

**At Misha: I'm trying my best to update quickly! Please understand, life keeps getting in the way D: And yes, that is good. So it happened! :D**


	5. Chapter 5

**Tsk tsk tsk. We get less reviews when we don't set a limit. *wags finger at readers* You guys are lucky I'm even posting this!**

Izaya had kept to the far left of the path they'd picked through the forest that day, Shizuo at the far right. They kept a close eye on each other, and they both knew it, and they knew that they knew.

Mairu and Kururi walked between them, Kururi next to Shizuo and Mairu Izaya. For the entire day, the two men said nothing as the twins conversed in their own special way.

They'd actually been making good progress and could have made it back to the village by the next day. But of course it had to start raining again.

Shizuo growled lightly, as if that'd stop the rain. Of course, it didn't and they had to find shelter. Shizuo knew of caves nearby and lead the others there. All the rocks were wet so... no fire.

"...Late."

Mairu nodded. "It is Kururi. Both in the day and on our way to the village. We were supposed to get back soon. But now we won't."

"I didn't even know that there was a cave nearby." Izaya's gaze turned to Shizuo. "How did you know it was here?"

"I'm a traveler. I need to know where things are for shelter."

Izaya grumbled under his breath. Who did this traveler think he was, going to rescue _his_ sister and knowing all these things Izaya didn't? It just pissed him off.

Mairu gingerly sat on the damp floor, before asking, "If we can't make a fire, what will we eat?"

Kururi blinked and agreed, "Eat."

Shizuo frowned and shook his head. "We won't be able to. Not unless someone goes out there and collects roots and berries and things to eat. We can't hunt and we can't start a fire. Who'd go out there?"

Izaya inwardly smirked. "You, traveler. You know this land and where things are. Prove to me and Mairu that you really can be trusted. Go out in this rain and get us something to eat. Then perhaps I'll consider trusting you."

Shizuo scowled. If he went out in the rain... there'd be nothing stopping the wild animals of the forest from coming forth for an easy meal. However... he couldn't just let them starve either. And he wanted to be trusted by humans, even irritating, stubborn humans like Izaya. "Fine. I will."

Kururi said nothing. She knew that Shizuo would survive the rain and bring back food for them. She was confident that she'd be safe with her brother and sister until them.

"I'll be back shortly." And with that, he was out in the rain.

Shizuo went out grumbling to himself. He better do this quickly and get back to Kururi. Well, not just her now. But the other two annoyed him. They just talked too much. Or maybe he'd gotten too used to only having his brother and Kururi for company.

As the blonde went off, the rain rinsing some of the mud from his hair though he didn't notice, something else headed to the secluded cave, drawn by the scent of tired prey...

Izaya stiffened. "Mairu, Kururi, behind me, now. Mairu, the bow. Kururi, the dagger and protect Mairu's back."

"Why Iza-nii?"

Izaya growled. "Listen Mairu. Wolves. Wolves are coming." Both twins stiffened, and once they heard the sounds, assumed their positions.

The wolves approached, growling and showing their fangs. The looks on their faces showed that they were hungry.

A bit away, Shizuo stiffened. Something was off... His eyes widened. The wolves! He could hear them.

Shizuo didn't even throw the food away. It'd waste time. No, still holding it, he ran towards the cave. Only when he got there did he see the wolves approaching the three of them. Now, he dropped the food. Like hell would he let the wolves get them, or at least Kururi.

As Izaya stood, tensed for the first hint of attack, a flash of yellow caught Kururi's eye. When she turned and saw the unbridled fury in Shizuo eyes, she held back a gasp. He wasn't doing what she thought he was doing, was he?! She frantically tried to warn him, to keep him from transforming in front of her family without tipping them off, but it was too late.

Before Kururi's wide eyes, Shizuo began to change. His tanned skinned started turning lighter, until finally he was glowing, as if there was a light within him. Then he grew, slowly at first but then so quickly Kururi was amazed he didn't split out of his skin. And then he did.

Mairu finally noticed her twin's distraction, and when she followed her gaze she screamed. Izaya's head snapped to his sister and saw what she did, and his gasp caught in his throat.

Shizuo's hair had receded, replaced by scales that tore free of his human guise. At this point he probably looked like some cross of human and dragon, shaped like a human but larger and scaled.

Now Izaya's throat went dry, and even the wolf's stopped their approach. After all, it was a dragon there. The wolves whimpered now. Were these humans the dragon's prey? Or was he watching over them?

Either way, they were trapped. They could attack what they had thought was their prey... but what if they angered the beast of land and sky?

Kururi didn't show fear. She knew that he was a dragon. The transformation was interesting. After all, she hadn't seen him transform from a dragon to human.

Mairu stared, her eyes wide with fear. Were they to be eaten? Did Kururi know that he was a dragon, or had she been fooled?

And then there was Izaya. His sister had been saved by a beast. A monster. And here it was. Would it torch them and the wolves with its fiery breath? Or would it scare the wolves away? What would happen to them now?

Suddenly there was a loud CRACK and Izaya and Mairu jumped, even Kururi flinching. The wolves cowered, conflicted.

CRACK CRACK CRACK. Shizuo flinched as well but not in surprise, only pain. The cracking noises were his joints and bones popping into place, changing from that of a humanoid to a full grown dragon. He grimaced, not used to the change though he'd only been a human for two days now. Finally there was a stretching, popping noise as his back swelled and, with a sound not unlike cloth ripping, his wings emerged and the transformation was complete.

In the moment Shizuo took to adjust to his true form, one of the wolves made up their mind, lunging for Kururi, the others soon following.

Shizuo let out a low growl. Hell no. He couldn't fit into the cave, at least not fully, so he quickly turned sideways, flinching as several trees were dislodged from the ground before sweeping his tail inside the cave to knock the wolves away from Kururi.

The wolves yelped as they were brutally smacked against the wall. There was a snapping sound, and the wolves moved no more. That had been quick. Now, the danger was gone, for the animals would not roam near here while a dragon was in the area.

Quickly, he drew his tail out of the cave, less Izaya or Mairu decided to attack him. However, now what? Surely, if he turned to his human form, he'd be rushed by Kururi's siblings in order to protect her, even though he had just saved them.

Shizuo cast his eyes down and made no move to attack them. He couldn't leave... they'd just be attacked by more animals. At least, at the moment they would be if he left.

He couldn't speak in the tongue of humans like this, but he could understand them. Surely, they would not be as stupid as to attack a dragon. Not with it just being the two of them.

Still in the pouring rain, Shizuo just curled up. Sure, he was wet, but it wasn't like it'd bother him. In the morning, he'd leave. They'd be able to get back to their village safely without him then.

The three Orihara's stood completely frozen, somewhat in shock. Had... had that really just happened?! No one spoke for several long moments. Kururi watched her family warily, waiting for their reaction. Another moment and nothing happened. She couldn't even tell what Mairu was thinking, which was truly a feat. It probably wouldn't be too hard to guess: thoughts that were scared and barely coherent.

Kururi sighed quietly, feeling conflicted herself. If Shizuo hadn't transformed, they would've been on their own in that fight, most likely getting injured. One of them may have even died, trying to protect the others. But now... Well, she didn't know what came now.

Tired of standing around watching their shell-shocked faces, she started over to Shizuo, hoping to talk to him, maybe get him to transform back and come inside-

A trembling hand wrapped itself around her arm and yanked her back. "Kururi!" an equally shaky voice yelled in her ear. "Stay away from that thing!"

She tugged at his hand, meeting his gaze steadily, trying to find her reasonable big brother in them. Right now, he was nowhere to be seen. "Shizuo."

Izaya shook his head. "I don't care what friendship might have formed between you when you thought him to be human. He's a dragon, Kururi. He'll- no. It'll eat us all!" He hissed this in her ear, trying his best not to aggravate the dragon outside the cave.

Kururi frowned. "Knew. Gave me." She pulled out the amulet to show Izaya. It was the very same one he had been suspicious of.

"You knew it was a dragon, and he gave you that?"

Kururi nodded. "Save."

Izaya frowned. It had saved her. And him... and Mairu... And it wasn't attacking now. But that didn't necessarily say anything, did it?

Izaya was not risking his life and his sisters' on an oddball of a dragon's capricious actions. He began tugging her to the very back of the cave, as far away from Shizuo as possible, though he could still reach them if he wished.

"Iza-nii!" Kururi whined, trying to pull away. Mairu come over at that moment, places her hands on Kururi's shoulders and whispering to her. "Kururi, we're just trying to protect you..."

Kururi frowned. They just refused to understand. "Protect. Shizuo."

Mairu shook her head. "No, _we_ can protect you now. I don't know what made you think a dragon could be friends with you, but we're here now and," her voice dropped to a near silent hiss, "he's obviously trying to trick you!"

Izaya nodded, though he really had no idea what Shizuo actually had in mind. "It's best to stay with your family right now."

Kururi started thrashing against them, crying out, "Understand-"

Just then there was a low whine and they froze again, looking for the source. Even Shizuo shifted around to glance inside.

Amid the pile of fur that had been recently been a small pack of hungry wolves, a dark shape rose shakily. It whined again, and cried out in pain as it jostled a badly broken leg. It panted harshly from the exertion of standing, before collapsing into a little heap.

Izaya narrowed his eyes and unsheathed his sword, but Shizuo was much quicker. Reaching with his tail into the cave, it swung it quickly down onto the wolf's back. A sharp crack of a spine effortlessly broken and the beast was put out of its misery.

Izaya growled and turned back to Kururi. "You see?" He hissed. "Look at how easily he could kill you, and us!"

"Hasn't..."

"Yeah. Yet." It was Mairu that spoke. "Watch. As soon as we let our guard down, it'll attack."

Kururi shook her head, trying to get them to listen. "Not bad. Good."

Both siblings shook their heads.

Shizuo himself let his head lower. Even though he was trying to help, he was thought of deceit. Truly, he was trying to help but... Guess it meant nothing. People wouldn't change.

So what had made Kururi trust him? Made her defend him? He'd leave if the rain let up, or morning. Whichever came first.

Kururi was very upset with her family right now. Usually they took everything she said seriously. They knew she never said anything unless she truly felt it needed to be said. So why couldn't they trust her on this? They'd seen Shizuo save them! They knew Shizuo saved her! Didn't that mean anything?

That night when her brother and sister finally drifted off into an uneasy sleep, Kururi sat up as quietly as she could and stepped outside the cave. It had stopped raining a while ago, so at least Shizuo could dry off now.

She carefully stepped around his curled body, and stood near his head. "Awake?" She whispered.

The dragon's eyes opened, and he bobbed his head slightly, the action a bit awkward in his current form. Kururi didn't say anything for a while, merely observed her dragon friend. He looked back, still curled and resting his head on his paws, trying to make himself seem small, nonthreatening, though at this point he doubted he could have frightened his little human friend.

After a moment of hesitation, Kururi reached out her little hands. "Can I?"

Shizuo blinked, and gave another tiny head bob. Curious, Kururi placed her hands on Shizuo's head, above his snout. She ran them lightly over his scales, marveling at the hardness of them. If they fell off, they could easily be mistaken for jagged bits of gold... She tapped one carefully, figuring they must be thin so Shizuo could fly.

Shizuo gave a soft, concerned rumble. He wished he could speak into her mind, to tell her to be careful not to cut herself... But she was smart for girl-child. She could handle herself.

Kururi blinked at the little noise. Was this what it was like for strangers who spoke to her? Only having the slightest idea of what the other person might be trying to communicate?

It was. For no one really knew what she was saying except for her siblings. Even at times, Shizuo had no idea what she was saying.

Izaya shifted and his eyes opened. He saw Mairu... but not Kururi. Immediately, he sat up and glanced about, only to see Kururi by the beast. His eyes widened, but he dare not move. It'd surely eat her if it did.

Still, his eyes stayed on the beast and his sister. What the hell did she think she was doing?

Shizuo waited patiently for Kururi to satisfy her curiosity.

Slowly, Kururi ran her hands all around the dragon's face, before her hands came to rest just beneath his jaw. She frowned as she felt a bit of long dried mud lingering there. Without really thinking, she scratched at it, consequently also scratching Shizuo.

She jumped as his head lolled to the side, into her hand as she scratched, his eyes rolling back into his head. They slid closed and a low rumbling started from his throat. Surprised, she began to draw her hand away, thinking maybe she's hurt him somehow, when he slit his eyes back open, glaring at her. She paused, then scratched beneath his jaw again. The exact same reaction, and the rumbling that Kururi now recognized as purring started up again.

Kururi scratched for a while, before experimentally pulling away again. Shizuo grumbled, and looked into her face with his large eyes, looking just like a dog asking for a treat. Giggling, she scratched again, marveling at how much her view of dragons had changed so quickly.

After a bit, Shizuo let out a huff of smoke from his nostrils, telling Kururi that she could stop, so she did, smiling.

Shizuo blinked and let out another puff of smoke. This time more playful. It seemed as if he hadn't noticed that Izaya was awake and watching.

Kururi giggled and looked up at him. "Change?" She wanted to talk. Maybe get a ride. Not while he was a dragon of course. The height and the possibility of her falling to her death was a scary one, and one she'd rather not experience.

Shizuo rolled his head towards Mairu and Izaya, as if trying to explain something, and Kururi glanced down at the ground. "Hurt you..." That's right. They'd hurt him if he did. Maybe even kill him, even though he hadn't done anything wrong.

Izaya stood then, deciding that Shizuo probably wasn't going to eat her... Okay, maybe he could admit that that had been a stupid thought.

"Kururi," he called quietly. Kururi and Shizuo both looked over, wide eyed, as if they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't. Izaya picked his next words carefully, his tone neutral.

"You need rest Kururi. We need to make it home tomorrow."

Kururi frowned and glanced towards Shizuo. The blond nudged her forward with his snout, telling her to go. It was a bad idea to stay up late anyway.

When she neared her brother, Kururi glanced up. "Mad?"

Izaya shook his head. "No. I'm not mad. He didn't hurt you, anyway."

Kururi blinked in surprise. Maybe... maybe everything with Shizuo would work out. Whatever that might mean.

With one last glance at the dragon that changed their lives in such a short amount of time, she went to sleep.

Izaya though, turned back to Shizuo with unreadable eyes. "I don't understand you," he whispered.

To his surprise, the dragon's eyes, bright in the darkness, opened and met his own. There was something of a question in those eyes, as if he was saying, "You're not too easy to read either."

Izaya turned away without another word, and Shizuo settled down to sleep.

Izaya wasn't going to trust something he didn't understand. Shizuo just wanted Kururi safe. For now, they'd have to tolerate each other.

**(I was gonna end the chapter here, but I love you guys too much for that~)**

Izaya woke first. At least, he thought that he woke first. However, when his eyes opened in the morning, he noticed the smell of smoke. Also immediately, he sat up, expecting to be trapped in the cave by a raging fire started by the dragon.

However, what he saw was the dragon... Shizuo if he remembered right, tending to a small fire. Next to him were the wolves that had been killed the night before. Some were skinned, with the skins drying. Some looked as if they were ready to be buried. And those who had been skinned were carefully cut and were now cooking over the fire.

Shizuo turned his head, to glance at the male, before turning back to the fire. "If you want to talk, don't make me look away from the fire. I don't want the meat to overcook, or the fire to spread. You guys didn't get to eat last night because of the wolves, and the muddy ground ruined the berries I had gathered."

Izaya decided to see what had Kururi so convinced dragons were so different than what they believed. He sat opposite of Shizuo, on the other side of the fire and where he could keep an eye on him. Then he merely watched, wondering what the other might say.

After a moment Shizuo spoke. "If you want to talk, you'll have to start the conversation... I'm not too good at that."

Izaya snorted. Well he was a dragon. He didn't even know how much time Shizuo spent in human form... So he asked just that.

Shizuo shrugged. "I don't know, maybe half the time? It's hard to say. Depends on what I'm doing."

"Alright. Like what?"

"Well... for one thing, if I'm eating." Since Izaya's face showed confusion, Shizuo continued. "You saw how large I was in my dragon form. Now imagine me eating every time I was hungry enough to sate me."

Izaya shivered. All the meat he'd need... "However. If I eat in this form, I fill up much faster." He grabbed a chunk of uncooked wolf and took a bite. "Too bad you can't eat it like this. Most of the flavor is cooked away in the flames."

Izaya sighed and shook his head. "Yes. We'd get sick if we ate it raw." After a moment, Izaya thought of another question. "Can all dragons look like humans? Or only a select few?"

"All of them. We have to... else we wouldn't have any food. All the dragons of a clan share what is caught."

Izaya snorted. "Caught? More like stolen. Stolen and burned us."

Shizuo's eyes turned towards the flame and the cooking meat, so that he didn't have to gaze at Izaya. "It's hard to hunt. Animals know that we're dragons, whether we're in human or our dragon forms. If I had stayed, these wolves wouldn't have come near the cave. Yes. We steal cattle, hogs, goats and sheep. But we never try to take them all. The clan I'm part of, at least, alternates villages, so that we don't steal all of one's meat."

Shizuo was silent as he turned the meat so that the other side could now cook, and still didn't look at Izaya. "And we never attack unless attacked first. Dragons don't like to cause unneeded destruction. Unless one is insane, we don't try to kill. However, when in self defense, it's hard not to kill without getting so injured that we can't fly home."

"And what if we suddenly had a blight in the livestock? What if they all just dropped dead and we had nothing more leftover because of you dragons?!" Izaya asked, glaring. Shizuo may have a point, but Izaya had to look out for his own kind. His love. "What about humans then?"

Shizuo cringed; he'd never thought of that. "We have to eat just like you. You still have the majority. And I don't think you'd have to worry about a blight..."

"But if there was one, what would happen? People having shortages, dragons with nothing to eat..."

"Well..." Shizuo struggled to answer. He'd never been questioned on matters this serious before, it was always just short words with Kasuka, orders from Shiki or annoying small talk with any other dragons he knew...

"Would you start eating humans?" Izaya asked, not bothering to hide the disgust from his tone.

Shizuo gaped at the raven haired male. "Wh-WHAT?!" And beneath his shock he felt a sudden spark of fury. How DARE he?! Couldn't he understand how careful dragons were being, how meticulously they had kept from intentionally harming mankind?!

Then, as if to save him from actions he would surely regret later, Kururi woke at that moment and sauntered over.

Shizuo took several deep breaths to try and calm down. Then he smiled at Kururi. "Hey. Hungry right? This chunk of meat is almost done. You can have it."

Kururi nodded in thanks before sitting between her brother and Shizuo. "Talking?"

Shizuo gave her a confused look, but Izaya answered. "I was asking him several questions. To make sure he really is trustworthy. In fact, I was waiting for an answer to a question. Would dragons eat humans if we had a shortage of livestock?"

Kururi glanced at Shizuo, and he knew he had to answer, else it would be best for him to just leave now.

"Well... The only time dragons eat people is if they're starving and they find a battle field full of soldiers or something. However, that doesn't answer the question."

He was silent for a moment. "No. We wouldn't. We'd be slower and duller, but we'd forage for berries and leaves. We'd find dead carcasses of animals, like these wolves, to eat."

Shizuo focused on cooking the wolf meat for Kururi now. No... Dragons never sought to harm humans. In many ways, dragons thought humans to be better than them. With how they could live.

After Kururi had her food, she went to wake Mairu so she could eat too. In the brief time that she had her back turned, Izaya locked eyes with Shizuo, the same unreadable look from last night in his eyes. Shizuo growled irritably inwardly, but managed to keep his face calm. He had answered his questions, so why couldn't he just leave him alone till they didn't have to see each other anymore?

The twins returned and Izaya looked away, seeming to become very interested in the cave wall all of a sudden. Shizuo smiled and handed Mairu some meat, which she accepted carefully, before flashing him a shy little smile and eating eagerly.

Shizuo blinked, surprised. Then he felt a bit of his earlier irritation return. Everyone except Izaya didn't care what he was, or at least tolerated him. Why couldn't Izaya?!

He forced himself to take several deep breaths before shaking his head. "If you're ready, let's head back to your village. The sooner you're home, the sooner you're safe from wild animals." He stood and quenched the flames.

Izaya sighed as he stood. "Yes. The sooner we're back, the sooner we can separate from this beast."

Shizuo scowled but said nothing. Why? Why could he not accept that he was civil?

Kururi saw Shizuo's sour face but didn't hear the animosity between the two men before she had gotten up. She went over to the blonde and turned his hand over in hers, examining the now scabbed over wound. "Hurt?" she asked.

"Ah, no Kururi, it doesn't really hurt anymore. I've had worse," he said, smiling down at her. So what if Izaya was annoying the hell out of him? This was for Kururi. It was worth it for Kururi.

Izaya stalked over and grabbed his sister's other hand, pulling her away. "Well," he said in a forcefully cheerful voice. "We better get going~"

Shizuo scowled again but nodded. "Yeah. Let's." He led the way, so that the animals would know not to attack them.

It was silent between the four of them. For awhile. Finally, Shizuo stopped. "Something is wrong... in the air."

Izaya's eyes widened, turning up to the sky. "What is it?" he whispered.

Shizuo glowered. Couldn't ANYTHING go smoothly on this journey? "Something big. And headed this way."

"Dragon..." Kururi and Mairu whispered together, their eyes round. Shizuo nodded.

"Tch," Izaya growled, reaching for his sword. The blonde waved him off, explaining:

"We should be fine in the forest, with the trees covering us. Besides, it'll recognize what I am and leave us alone."

"Insane..." Kururi murmured, sidling close to Shizuo.

"Yeah!" Mairu agreed. "What if it's gone insane? Then it'll definitely attack us!" Izaya turned away from the sky, glaring at Shizuo, waiting for his response.

Shizuo sighed. He hadn't forgotten that, he'd just hoped maybe _they _had...

"Let's just keep walking..." Shizuo muttered, glaring towards the mystery dragon headed straight for them.

The unnamed dragon stopped, right above the tree line, scanning for something. Its pitch black scales made him easy to spot.

Shizuo stiffened. "I don't think he's from my clan. Or has noticed us yet. And that's good. Whatever you do, don't make loud noises or do anything to attract him to us."

Izaya scoffed. "Yeah. Like he'll attack if another dragon's here. What's the danger?"

It was at that moment, the dragon lunged, its fangs wide open. Shizuo grabbed both Mairu and Kururi to pull them out of the way as several trees were dislodged.

Izaya cursed, surprised, but not really. Who could trust a dragon anyway? The dragon turned and snapped at him, and he leapt out of the way and unsheathed his sword in one smooth movement, slashing at its face. He left a gash just above one of its eyes, and it snarled, reaching for him with razor-like claws, knocking down another tree as it went.

While the unknown dragon was preoccupied with Izaya, Shizuo set to securing the twins safety. He ran off into the thicker trees until they were out of earshot from the battle, ignoring their protests and tiny pounding fists on his chest as he went. Once they reached what Shizuo deemed a safe spot, the blonde located a large tree with thick boughs, and hung the twins by their tunics to it.

"Shizuo...!" Kururi yelled in anger and surprise. He wasn't just going to leave them there, was he?! Mairu voiced her thoughts aloud, although a bit less politely.

The blonde ignored them, racing back to help Izaya.

Izaya growled when he saw Shizuo return. "Where the hell are my sisters?"

"Safe! Don't focus on me, focus on him!" It was a good thing that Shizuo reminded the raven to keep an eye on the dragon, because if he hadn't, Izaya would literally be half the man he was now.

Shizuo growled, and while the other dragon was distracted, through himself at the other. He winced as part of his leg was cut on a jagged scale, but climbed onto his head. Now, he jabbed a hand into the dragon's eye, trying to blind it.

The dragon roared and thrashed its head, hurting Shizuo who refused to let go as he did.

The dragon screamed and thrashed harder, felling more trees, many of its scales ripping off as they scraped against the rough bark. This only seemed to make it angrier though, as if it was Shizuo's fault it had gone insane and attacked them. It threw its head back to try and shake the blonde off.

Izaya saw his chance and took it, rushing at the dragon's exposed throat, his sword flashing in the bright morning sun.

The dragon noticed the gleam of the sword at the last second, swinging its head down and slamming Izaya into the ground. Shizuo, unprepared for this movement, went flying over both of them and crashed into a nearby tree. Izaya gasped, the wind knocked out of him. He quickly rolled away from the dragon's gaping, toothed mouth hovering over his body, like something out of a nightmare. He wasn't quick enough though, and the dragon snatched him up in those deadly claws.

Shizuo's vision went red. He roared, as if he was in his dragon form before actually transforming. It was much like before, when the wolves attacked, only faster. He didn't glow either.

He roared again, unleashing a breath of fire that scorched the other dragon's back.

The black dragon roared in rage, dropping Izaya, before lunging at Shizuo with its claws. He tore away many of his scales and dug his fangs into Shizuo's neck, causing him to roar in pain and unleash a blast of fiery air.

The black dragon screeched and leaped away as embers flew into its eyes. It furiously pawed at its face, snarling. Shizuo lunged, tackling it and scrambling to pin it down. It growled, useless eyes shut tight as it rolled to switch their positions. It bit blindly and Shizuo howled as it clamped down of his shoulder. He clawed at the other's exposed belly, trying to get the other to let go, but it wouldn't.

/Dammit!/ Shizuo snarled. /If I kill him now, I might now be able to get him off of me!/

As they clashed claws and tumbled, Izaya staggered to his feet and searched frantically for his sword. There was another pain growl from the tangled dragons and he swore. "Where is it?!" Before tripping and planting his face into the ground. "Damn it!" he yelled, before noticing he had tripped over his sword.

Shizuo screamed as the black dragon suddenly yanked its head away, bits of Shizuo's flesh still caught in its teeth. Hot blood streamed steadily from the wound, and he snarled, digging his claws into the other's belly. The golden dragon wasn't usually one for revenge, but with the fresh pain stabbing his nerves, right now all he could think of was causing the other pain.

He struck, catching most of the black dragon's thrashing head in his jaw, securing him into place with his teeth. The other whimpered, unable to open its jaw or thrash without getting cut badly enough to bleed out. Just as it thought its pain couldn't get worse, Shizuo inhaled deep, and breathed his fire all over the other's face. It screamed a horrible, horrible scream that had Izaya freezing in place. Shizuo didn't let up though, and Izaya couldn't take that horrible noise any longer. He sprinted to the dragons and slit the black dragon's throat quickly, causing Shizuo to drop it in surprise. It released one more gurgling whimper through its badly deformed jaws, and then it was still.

Shizuo let his eyes close now, and breathed deeply. The other was dead... but he was hurt. Bleeding. Chucks of his stomach had been torn out, scales pulled out and he had been burned.

He didn't really think, he just transformed back to a human, showing Izaya just how badly his wounds were. His tunic was shredded in several places, like where his scales had been ripped off.

Parts of his skin were burned and black, and he was bleeding a lot. A chunk of his flesh was missing at his chest. Shizuo curled into himself now. The pain... it was too much. He didn't know what to do.

Briefly, he saw Izaya, but not much else. "A-are you alright?" He saw fit to ask that, instead of about himself.

Shizuo groaned, and gasped when even _that_ pained him. Izaya blinked, conflicted. What should he do...? He turned in the direction the twins were, then back at Shizuo. Then he glanced down at his bloodied sword.

If the twins came back and Shizuo was dead, they could all go back to being the way they were. Everything could be the same again. Like it never happened. He could tell them he died in the fight, which he nearly had. He lifted his sword and stepped closer.

Shizuo could do nothing to stop him. No one question his story. It would be quick. Quick and easy.

As Izaya gripped his sword with both hands, his knuckles turning white from the pressure, he glanced at Shizuo's pained face, his eyes shut tight in agony.

He's probably going to die anyway, that quiet voice murmured in his head. Izaya nodded slightly, and swung his sword, aiming for Shizuo's throat.

**Me and Icywarm: SUSSSPEEENCCCEEE~! XD**

**Me: So, how many reviews till they learn what happens~?**

**Icywarm: Hmmmm. Let's go with seven. Put it up. I meant make the review count up. Idk. ^^;**

**Me: SEVEN IT IS! REVIEW, LOVELY HUMANS!**

**Izaya: HEY! THAT' **_**MY**_** LINE!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hur hur hur… thanks for all the lovely reviews~**

However, at the last moment, Izaya stopped. He didn't know why. Maybe it was because Shizuo had risked his life to keep his sister's safe. Maybe it was because he still needed to know where his sisters were and if they were actually safe. Perhaps it had been the question Shizuo asked concerning his injuries instead of his own.

Or maybe it had been the way he saw Shizuo's eyes close with defeat and without even fighting when he saw the sword coming. It was like he had expected that that was the way he would die. Like he knew there wasn't any use.

And even though he thought death was coming for him... he smiled lightly. Like saving Izaya and Mairu and Kururi was worth it. Yeah... he stopped his sword right at Shizuo's neck, not exactly sure why he did.

Izaya groaned, sheathing his sword. He still didn't know what to do with Shizuo. He couldn't carry him back to the village. He paced, uncertain. He should go and get his sisters, wherever they were.

Yes. He'd do that, and together they could think of something. With that in mind, he set off in the direction he'd seen the blonde run off with them.

Shizuo groaned and curled up a bit. He wasn't going to die... But he might from lack of blood.

"Iza-nii!" Mairu yelled when she saw he. Neither she nor Kururi had been able to get down, and were worried about what had happened.

"Shizuo?"

Izaya bit his lip. "Just, come on."

He led them back to where the blond was, curled up. He looked dead. "He isn't... but I don't know how to help."

Kururi frowned, knowing the blonde needed her help right now. She wouldn't disappoint him. "Run?" she suggested.

"We run and get help while Iza-nii watches Shizuo?" Mairu confirmed and Kururi nodded. Izaya frowned though, torn. They would -probably- be safe for the rest of the way back to the village... But then again, they -should- have been safe on the way here. Just because they'd killed one insane dragon didn't mean there couldn't be more around. Izaya wasn't taking that chance.

"I don't think it's safe, and besides, he could bleed out before you get back."

"Try." Kururi wanted to try. "Worth it." Then, struggling to convince her brother, she said something she hadn't ever before. "Coward."

She had called him a coward. He didn't want to stay alone with the dragon. They had each other. They were fast and they could make it and come back with more people in case there was another. However, it was Izaya who was scared, who didn't want to do a thing. It was him who was scared. A coward. Just because Shizuo was a dragon.

Izaya's mind stopped working for a moment. Had... had he heard right? Judging from Mairu's dropped jaw and Kururi's defiant stance, he'd say he had.

Suddenly Mairu snapped her jaw shut and nodded, finally back to agreeing with her sister instead of Izaya again. "We should at least try, Iza-nii. Don't be afraid. We won't be gone too long."

Izaya paused, letting his mind restart itself, before he released a heavy sigh, kneeling before his sisters. "You're right," he said earnestly, looking into their surprised faces. "I'm a coward. I'm afraid the worst will happen while you two are gone. I'm afraid that something is going to happen to the only family I have left, the one I thought I might have lost not long ago."

"Safe." It wasn't that far to the village. "Ten minutes." They'd be there in ten minutes if they ran. "Hear." And he'd hear if something happened. "Abandon." And if something did, he could abandon Shizuo. "Deal?"

Izaya grit his teeth, looking from one sister to the other before glancing over his shoulder at Shizuo. He hated this... he hated his sisters being in danger. He hated feeling this vulnerable. He hated feeling like he HAD to agree with them, for Shizuo's sake.

But most of all he hated feeling like he OWED the blonde. He was a DRAGON after all! They should just leave without him. So why did the raven find himself nodding, his chest clenching with worry as his sisters ran off with no one to look after them, all so he could help a dragon?

Izaya honestly couldn't say. Feeling weary down to his soul, he heaved himself up and sat next to Shizuo.

Meanwhile, Shizuo had slipped into unconsciousness. A dream, though he didn't even know he was. Izaya had just brought down the sword, ready to slice his neck, but stopped. Shizuo looked up at him, pleading. It hurt... Everything hurt.

"I... I saved you guys... so you can go on... I don't mind dying here." It was a struggle to breath.

However, Izaya merely put his sword to the side and knelt down close to him. "You could have die... Shizuo." His arms wrapped around him. "And you didn't. And you might still be saved. I'm glad. I'm glad."

Shizuo furrowed his brow, confused. He had been sure that Izaya would love nothing more than his death, yet here he was, happy he was alive, happy he might make it.

"Izaya..." he whispered. For a moment there was nothing but the sound of Shizuo's labored breathing as he gathered his strength. "Why... you should go. Get your sisters back to your village. You're... safe now..."

"No." the raven growled, wrapping his arms tighter around the bleeding blonde. "I won't leave you here. Not after everything that's happened."

Shizuo sighed, but accepted it. If he died, they would all get home safely. If he lived, then that was great too. For now he decided to just rest in the other's arms. He was actually quite comfortable now, the pain barely noticeable anymore.

Not far from them, the twins were running, maybe faster than they ever had. Well, Kururi was. Mairu was rushing after her sister, but she simply couldn't keep pace with her. Her feet didn't even seem to touch the ground! She was already panting, a cold sweat running down her face, into her eyes, but she didn't slow for a second. /Shizuo.../

Soon enough, both twins were at the edge of their village, both panting heavily. It was Shinra who noticed them. His eyes were wide with surprise, and he called Kadota before trotting over to where they were.

"Where's your brother?" It was Kadota that asked.

"With... wounded..." With Shizuo. He's wounded. Shizuo was, not Izaya.

Mairu nodded. "Iza-nii is with a... traveler we met. The traveler is wounded. He could die really easy!"

Kadota frowned. It wasn't good to let a fellow human die, so he nodded and turned to Shinra. "Go back with them. Tend to this traveler. Then, when he's healed enough, the four of you should be able to bring him here for further care."

Shinra nodded, as did the twins, before they were off back towards Shizuo.

Luckily for Shinra, the twins were already exhausted, so he could actually keep up with them. But every second they wasted was another of what could be Shizuo's last seconds, trickling away.

They finally made it back to the clearing, where Shizuo lay unconscious and Izaya watched him anxiously. Shinra didn't even notice them though. He was too busy staring at the burnt corpse of the black dragon. Gaping, he struggled to put his shock into words, but all he could come up with was: "Tha... Dragon! Wha-How-What?!"

Izaya leaped to his feet and stalked over, grabbing Shinra and yanking him over to Shizuo. "Don't ask, just heal!"

"But.. dragon!"

"Then ask later Shinra! There's a man here that is dying! So do what you're apprenticed to do!"

Shinra gulped and nodded as he knelt down by Shizuo. Luckily, he had a bag of some equipment with him. Salves for the burns and cuts. Soon, a thick layer of various crushed plants were over the majority of Shizuo's wounds.

Shinra wiped his brow now. "There. I stopped the bleeding and the cuts and scrapes shouldn't be infected. Now we just have to wait a bit for it to sink in. So now, tell me how that dragon over there was killed." He waved his arm over at the burnt corpse.

Izaya shrugged, his cool demeanor returned to him as he received promise of Shizuo's recovery. "It's simple really. I killed it."

Shinra blinked. And blinked again. Then he started laughing, and then even more when he caught Izaya's sour expression. "You!" He managed between his loud guffaws. "You, kill THAT dragon? Hahahahaha!" Shinra snickered, then quickly restrained himself as Izaya reached for his sword. "Sorry Izaya. I know you're good, but you're not THAT good," he explained, pointing over to the dragon's completely mangled body. "Now... what really happened?"

"I told you," Izaya muttered. "I killed it. And... He helped too. A little." Izaya added reluctantly, looking over at Shizuo.

Shinra frowned. "You can't be serious. That thing looks like it was just chewed up and spit out by a dragon twice its size!"

Izaya shrugged carelessly again. "What can I say? Crazy dragon didn't even see it coming."

Shinra narrowed his eyes suspiciously. He gestured agitatedly at the dragon's burned face. "Only a DRAGON could do that."

"We didn't get to see it's face before we hid, but maybe it had been attacked before it came after us." Mairu chipped in now, trying to help with their ruse.

Shinra blinked before grinning. "No... We would have heard that. But... I have an idea. Mairu, when at the village, you paused before you said traveler, and it looks as if another dragon attacked this one..." Shinra's eyes glinted. "Is this 'traveler' perhaps a dragon somehow?"

He had barely been able to finish the question before /Kururi/ had a hidden dagger at his throat. "Secret..." Keep it a secret, or else. The blade pushed a bit more into Shinra's neck.

Shinra gulped. "D-don't worry. I-I wouldn't have said a-anything even if you d-didn't threaten me. I-it'd go against my own w-wishes." Because of that girl Izaya had mentioned. She wasn't a dragon but...

Mairu nodded and pulled her sister away from the healer's apprentice.

"K-kasuka...?"

"Shizuo!" Kururi exclaimed, rushing to his side. "Hurts?"

The blonde groaned, confused. Where was he? A battle? But... where were the others? Shiki and Kasuka and Kida and everyone else? Had they left him here, thought he was dead? "W-what...?"

"Don't talk," Izaya ordered, his tone clipped. He was still glaring over at Shinra, wondering what he meant by saying 'It would go against his wishes.' But the blonde was what was important now. He'd interrogate Shinra later. He leaned over Shizuo, muttering, "You can stay with us at the village until you're better. Then you go back to live with your own kind."

Shizuo shook his head, still disoriented. "Where... Kasuka...?"

Izaya frowned. "Who's Kasuka?"

Kururi, not really paying attention answered, "Brother."

Izaya blinked. "His brother?"

Kururi nodded. "Brother. Nice."

"You were at their lair?"

Again, Kururi nodded. "Nice."

Shinra's eyes, however, were wide. "You were at a dragon's lair? How was it? How do they live? What was it like?"

Kururi looked up and cringed when she met her brother's shocked eyes. He didn't know she was in their lair... "...Nice."

Izaya narrowed his eyes. "So it was all very nice there, huh?"

Kururi gulped, then nodded. "Yes. Nice. Good."

"We are going to talk about this later," Izaya growled at her under his breath. Kururi sighed in defeat. "Right now," Izaya continued louder so everyone could hear, "We need to get Shizuo to the village."

Shinra sighed and nodded. "I can't really do much for him out here. Izaya, you know how to skin, right? I need you to skin part of that dragon over there so I can make a sling. You know, one of those things you put injured people on to carry them. Mairu and Kururi, find strong thick branches. Two of 'em, a bit longer than his body and some vines."

Izaya frowned, but went over to the dragon. He didn't like it. Using the dead beast that had nearly killed them to help another dragon. Really, it'd just be best to leave him to die. However, he had already gotten the twins and Shinra was here so...

Sighing, he went to work. Mairu and Kururi did too. Soon enough, a sling was made, and all four of them moved Shizuo onto it. "Alright! Now, to the village! Slow though. We don't wanna drop him."

They carefully made their way back to the village, Shinra and Kururi holding one side of the make-shift sling and Izaya and Mairu holding the other. There was quiet between the four of them for a while, before finally Shinra couldn't hold his questions any longer.

"So how does it work, the shapeshifting?"

Izaya glared tiredly at him. Everything that had happened recently was all piling up, making him feel buried and heavy. Right now, he just wanted to get home and curl up in his own bed. But of course Shinra wouldn't let him have his peace until he got that. "If you don't know, how the hell did you figure out what Shizuo is?" he snapped irritably.

"It was an educated guess based on what I know about dragons, the burnt dead dragon that was by you guys, and your reactions proved it right." He grinned. "You should learn to control yourselves better~"

"Shinra. I'm going to kill you if you don't shut up."

"You wouldn't dare, Izaya. I'm the healer's apprentice, remember? Anyway, how long is this guy gonna stay with us? Till he's healed? Forever?"

Izaya scowled. "He's gone as soon as he's healed."

"Visit," Kururi murmured under her breath. Izaya heard but chose not to comment. Yet.

Finally, they were all back in the village. Exhausted, Izaya handed over Shizuo to the care of Kadota and the others, completely ignoring their prying questions. Shinra could handle that. He went right home and collapsed into his bed. He didn't bother to see Kururi and Mairu trailing after Shizuo to see what would become of him. He'd worried enough about them in the past few days.

Izaya sighed. He'd done what he set out to do. His sisters were safe. Whatever consequences that the dragons had brought on were something he could deal with tomorrow.

That's what he repeated to himself as he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Mairu and Kururi grinned to each other after Izaya was asleep. Now they could work. The healer had done what he could for Shizuo, and now he needed to rest.

"Nii..."

Mairu nodded. "Iza-nii's bed is the biggest. We share ours so..."

Both girls grinned as they struggled to carry Shizuo to their home, and then tucked him into their brother's bed.

"...Night."

**Me: Gah. Speed edited cuz I'm suddenly busy when I didn't expect to be busy. *growls at innocent project buddy***

**Icywarm: Review if you guys want more~**

**Me: And don't review if you hate PUPPIES! *rushes off to do project***


	7. Chapter 7

***sigh*Not many reviews for the last chapter. So you get SHORT chappy. Haha.**

Izaya sighed contentedly as he woke in his own bed, in his own home. He had only been gone three days and he had missed it terribly. Nearly purring in satisfaction, he rolled over to cuddle into his sheets and get some more sleep. Or he tried to.

Izaya frowned as he felt something that didn't feel like soft animal skins or his feather pillow at all. It was just as warm, if not more so, but rougher, and harder. Reaching out blindly, he felt what could only be hair and a human face. Eyes flying open and a shriek catching in his throat, Izaya promptly fell out of his bed, landing on his ass.

His sisters, who'd been awake and waiting for him to wake up, giggled at his reaction quietly. They stepped into the room quietly to avoid waking Shizuo, who had somehow slept through having his face molested.

"Morning," they greeted in cheerful whispers. Izaya glared and lurched to his feet. He opened his mouth to start screaming at them when, as if sensing his thoughts, they both brought a finger to their lips and gestured to the sleeping Shizuo. Izaya's eyes narrowed and he shoved the two of them out of his room. Once out in the hall, Izaya yelled as loud as possible while whispering, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

The twins blinked up at him innocently. "What?"

"What is he doing here!?"

"Want." Kururi answered.

"I don't care if you want to watch him, why is he in my BED?!"

"Room," Kururi said, motioning between Mairu and herself.

"Yeah," Mairu agreed, grinning. "He wouldn't fit in our bed, Iza-nii!"

Izaya scowled. "I want him out now. There's plenty of room in the healer's hut. You can stay there during the day to watch him."

Mairu frowned. "Nu-uh, Iza-nii. No room. There's someone se-cret staying there~ Shinra won't tell us who though." She pouted at that, like she wanted to know.

Kururi smiled though. "Shinra girlfriend."

Izaya raised an eyebrow. "Shinra has a girlfriend? And he couldn't kick her out to her own home so the dragon could stay there?"

"Secret." He wouldn't tell us anything about her, or even let us see us. It's a secret. "Shadows." But the shadows were all weird."

Izaya frowned but nodded. "Alright. Fine. He can stay. But he's getting a pillow and animal skins then he's staying on the floor. Got it?"

"Injured!" Kururi protested loudly, before cringing and glancing over at Shizuo. After confirming he had not woken up, she continued smugly, "Protect."

Izaya sighed. "Yeah, I know he protected us, but... Fine! He'll sleep in my bed. And where am I supposed to sleep?"

Kururi blinked. "Room," she answered, as if it was completely obvious, pointing to his bed. Izaya groaned.

"I can't share a bed with Shizuo. It's not like how you guys share it. You're sisters."

Kururi and Mairu shared a look, one that almost seemed to say "Wow, Iza-nii sure is slow today." "Pretend," Kururi said, smirking impishly.

"Yeah, Iza-nii! He saved our lives, so why not treat him like family?"

"Because he's not! He's not even human!" Izaya growled, exasperated.

"Looks." He looks like one right now. "Please?" She didn't want to send Shizuo away... She wanted him to stay.

Izaya growled. "Get him his own cot for the ground, and fine. But I'm not sharing my bed with him."

He was final in this regard. He didn't want the dragon to stay. He didn't want to see him. He didn't want anything to do with him. So he wasn't going to share a bed with him.

Kururi crossed her arms and glared. "Fine," she said, grabbing Mairu and pulling her away. Just as they were leaving the room she yelled over her shoulder at Izaya, "Bed!" He'll sleep in OUR bed then!

"Like hell he will!" Izaya shouted back, momentarily forgetting to be quiet.

"...Ugh..."

Izaya whirled around, surprised at the quiet noise even though it was obvious where it came from. Shizuo was sitting up in his bed, holding his head in his hands.

The blond blinked and looked around. Where was he? This wasn't his bed in his cave with the others... And it smelled of people. Blinking, he looked up to see Izaya.

"Is this your home?"

Izaya scowled but nodded. "Yeah. Now get the hell out of my bed."

Shizuo blinked and glanced down at the bed he was in. Izaya had actually let him sleep in his bed? It was a shock to the blonde, especially since the last thing he could remember was Izaya about to kill him. "Okay..." Shizuo said, slowly sliding off the bed so he wouldn't fall. He winced as he aggravated his healing wounds.

Izaya felt sort of bad for letting his anger from the argument loose on Shizuo, who was still injured, but he stood firm. It was his house, and Shizuo should be grateful that he could stay there and get better before he had to leave.

"I'll just go rest in another room." If this was the raven's bed, then this room was most likely Izaya's. He shouldn't linger when there was clearly anger and loathing in the other's eyes.

One step forward, and his vision flashed red. Really, he should stay resting, not moving. But he didn't want to be kicked out. This injured, he couldn't risk traveling back to his home, and beasts would take advantage of him.

When he got to where Izaya was standing at the door, Shizuo lost his footing and fell face first. He didn't have the energy to keep moving.

Izaya yelped in surprise and instinctually reached out, catching the blonde by the shoulders before he hit the ground. He grunted under Shizuo's weight, but didn't let go.

"Sorry..." Shizuo muttered, before falling unconscious again. Izaya groaned as he felt all the other's dead weight. He probably should have waited till Shizuo was more healed before kicking him out of his bed. He slowly maneuvered the blonde back over to the bed. He thought of calling for the twins' help but decided against it. They'd definitely ridicule his lack of manly strength and use Shizuo's condition as ammo to keep him in Izaya's room for longer.

Izaya sighed once Shizuo was in his bed. Then, he grumbled. Shouldn't they heal faster then humans or something? That was what legend said.

Then again... Legends also said that dragons were nothing but blood thirsty creatures that loved destruction and death. But Shizuo here had saved his sister and risked his life, nearly dying, to save them.

The whole thing was confusing, and Izaya sighed. What the hell was he supposed to do? Leave the dragons be? He didn't know... It was much too hard to have the whole village amend their ways.

Still grumbling to himself, Izaya stomped into the kitchen, where the twins were sitting together, talking. When Izaya walked in they quieted, and smiled hugely up at him. He was instantly suspicious.

"Whatever you want, you're not going to get it," he warned, going to grab some bread for his breakfast. He sat down at their little round table in the middle of the kitchen and started eating.

"We don't want anything~" Mairu said sweetly, the both of them batting their eyelashes at him. He glowered at them but didn't reply, his mouth still full of food. "We _are_ a bit hungry though, right Kururi?"

"Hungry," Kururi nodded. "Food."

"Yeah, and since _we're_ hungry, and _you're_ hungry, don't you think everyone else is hungry too~?"

"If by 'everyone else', you mean Shizuo, then yeah, I bet he's hungry. Go feed him some of _your_ food." Izaya muttered.

Kururi pouted. "Not enough." There wasn't enough food for her and Mairu. Meaning, they had enough to eat, but they wouldn't if they shared with Shizuo.

"Both of you give him half your meal. But he's sleeping right now. So I guess he doesn't get to eat." He scoffed and quickly finished off his breakfast.

"Wake," Kururi countered. He'll wake up eventually.

Izaya sighed. "We all would have plenty of food if we had just left him as soon as we found you, Kururi."

"But then that crazy dragon would have hurt us..." Mairu said gloomily, tracing random patterns in the wooden table their father had carved, a long time ago.

"Big brother would have saved the day," Izaya said, only sounding a bit uncertain. "Anyway," he continued, "If Kururi hadn't been taken in the first place, we wouldn't have run into that dragon. If dragons didn't EXIST in the first place, we'd have tons of leftover food for everyone, and we'd all be fat and happy." And NOT orphans, he added mentally.

"Shizuo," Kururi said, glaring at her brother.

"Oh, I'm sure Shizuo would still be around if dragons didn't exist! He hardly acts like one anyway!" Izaya said, waving his free hand dismissively.

Kururi frowned. Izaya didn't know how dragons acted. "Don't know. Different." They were different then how they acted when getting food.

Mairu nodded a bit. "We didn't even know dragons could transform into the shape of us. Or that they could go insane. How would we know if he doesn't act like a dragon? It could be that he's the most dragon-like of all, and we just wouldn't' think so because of what we think dragons are like."

Izaya scowled. "Whatever. Go feed him if you want."

Kururi sighed and went to check if Shizuo was awake. While she was gone, Izaya leaned across the table to Mairu, whispering, "_You_ don't think he acts like a dragon, do you?"

Mairu shrugged, looking a bit uncomfortably. "He could be dragon-like, I guess. I mean, he turns into one, and obviously he fights pretty well..."

"But saving Kururi, and acting as her guide? That doesn't seem very dragon like to me!"

"We don't really know what they're like, all we have to go on is what other people say..." Mairu said, though she sounded unconvinced herself.

"But if all dragons were like that, then why do no other people say they are? Why do all people say they're vicious, dangerous creatures?"

"Well... maybe no one else gave them a chance...?"

"Oh, come on Mairu!" Izaya argued, annoyed now. "I'd say we would have the average reaction! We're normal people, right?"

"No offense, Iza-nii, but we are all pretty far from normal. And you're the freak in the family of freaks," Mairu muttered back, looking completely serious. She leaned away from Izaya's shocked face just as Kururi walked back in.

"Kururi..." Izaya said, snapping his jaw shut. He had meant to ask about Shizuo but the words that ended up spilling out of his mouth were, "You don't think your big brother is a freak, do you?"

Kururi shifted in place, surprised by the sudden question. "Um," she glanced between her brother and her sister's smug expression. "Humans..." She answered finally. You _are_ kind of weird about humans...

Izaya scowled at that, but sighed. "Fine fine. I guess I give you that. No one else loves all other humans~" He grinned now, and stood up. "I'm going to see if Dotachin needs help with anything, seeing as I'm not an apprentice or have a job myself."

He waved good-bye to the two before exiting the tent. Really, the dragon must be polluting the air. That must have been why he was going to ask about Shizuo's well-being. He didn't care.

Kururi blinked as her brother suddenly left, but shrugged it off. He was weird, after all. She tugged at her sister. "Wake."

"He's waking up now?" Mairu asked, smiling at her quiet sister's excitement. They hurried back to Izaya's room just as Shizuo was waking.

Shizuo looked over at the two of them, looking surprised. "Morning!" They chirped, going up to sit on the edge of the bed. Shizuo smiled fondly at the two of them. His own sibling had never been so outward with his emotions, and it was cute to see them treating him like an older brother.

"Hungry?" Kururi asked, smiling slightly back at him.

Shizuo nodded. "Very." Izaya wasn't there, and he was back in the raven's bed. Shizuo took this as to mean he could stay until he was healed, which he was grateful for.

Mairu grinned and ran to the kitchen area, quickly returning with some bread and some cheese. "Here! I hope this is alright. I saw how you ate the wolf meat raw."

Shizuo smiled as he nodded. "Yeah. This is fine. I don't have to have meat. There have been dragons that turned vegetarian." He smiled again before digging in. Sure, it was just bread and cheese, but it tasted great, and he was hungry.

Shizuo and the twins enjoyed idle conversation for a few hours while Izaya was gone, and finally after they all had some lunch Kururi decided Shizuo needed more rest. So when Izaya finally got home that night, the blonde was still sound asleep. In _his_ bed.

Izaya grumbled. He wasn't going to wake the injured beast up, and he wasn't going to sleep on the floor, so that meant that he had to share the bed with the blond man.

His face burned red as he climbed into the bed. After all, the only people he had shared a bed with before was family. And now a stranger was in his bed. Worse still was the fact that his bed was meant for one person, meaning he was right up against Shizuo.

His face heated a bit more. This was so stupid! All he had to do was fall asleep. Then, in the morning, he just had to quickly get out of bed. Problem solved.

As Izaya was getting settled in his bed, he must have disturbed the blonde, because he rolled over, throwing his arms out, effectively trapping Izaya. Izaya gave a squeak-a very MANLY squeak- but Shizuo didn't wake. He just sighed, wrapping his arms tighter the smaller man.

His face now positively on fire, Izaya tried to squirm his way out of bed. He had changed his mind. Sleeping on the floor wasn't such a bad idea...

Shizuo's arms tightened even further. Giving up before he was in danger of suffocating, Izaya nearly screamed in frustration.

Shizuo smiled a bit in his sleep and nuzzled his head against Izaya's back, making his face heat up more. Ah, how he wished that he wasn't in this position.

Really, he just needed to get to sleep. But with him being so close to the dragon, it was hard to.

As awkward as it was that night, Izaya couldn't bring himself to feel self-conscious that morning. He was too tired from having stayed up so long having his silent freak out. "Ughhhh," he whined as he pulled himself out of bed that morning, yawning hugely.

"Why are you so tired?" Shizuo asked innocently, oblivious to his actions the night before. "Your bed is so comfortable, I slept great."

Izaya glowered at him. "Good for you."

Izaya prayed to whatever god might exist that dragons DID heal quicker than humans, because the next few weeks were going to be LONG for him...

It wasn't until about three weeks later that Shizuo was able to walk around again. And Izaya was glad. For it meant that soon he would leave.

Sighing, he had breakfast and made his way over to the healer's tent. After all, he was going to visit his friend. "Shinra~ Look who came to visit and… who is this?"

He asked for there was a lady with Shinra... And she didn't have a head.

**SUSPENSE AGAIN! So if you want Izaya's reaction, give us REVIEWS! *stares at Icywarm* Say something.**

**Icywarm: Um... Hi readers! I hope you liked this chapter~ Please review if you want more.**

**Me: ****And if you don't review, Izaya is gonna tell EVERYONE about Celty!**

**Icywarm: XD YES! And then Shinra is banned from the village and Celty killed. owo**

**Me: ****XD Yes. Threats always work. Most of the time.**


	8. Chapter 8

…**Hi. I know I haven't updated anything in… forever so… sorry? I've been really busy lately, with… stuff. Anyway. Enjoy. **

Izaya blinked as he took in what was presented before him. Shinra and the headless woman had both frozen, red handed. Something bright caught his attention, and when he glanced over, it was the head of the woman, her bright blue eyes watching Izaya warily.

"Ah. Interesting." Izaya managed.

"Ahahaha." Shinra laughed nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "I-Izaya. I didn't know you were coming over..." The head just kept staring at him.

He smirked a bit. "Oh? Is this that girl you talked about once?"

He gulped but nodded.

/She isn't human... That's for sure./

"This is Celty~ She's my beloved." He grinned.

The headless woman, now known and Celty, quickly turned and punched Shinra hard in the gut, black smoke billowing from her neck. Izaya chuckled. "She seems SO affectionate to you."

Shinra gasped, quickly straightening up and shaking off the pain like it happened all the time. /It probably does/ Izaya mused, intrigued now that he had gotten over his initial shock.

"So, you're the lovely lady Shinra's been so busy with lately, hmmm?" Izaya purred, sidling closer to the odd couple and, consequently, the head on the table. "Not QUITE what I expected..." Izaya suddenly turned on Shinra, who gulped at his smirking face.

"Does the healer know about this, Shinra~?" Without waiting for an answer, Izaya continued. "Or should I say, does your FATHER know about this~?"

"Oh yeah dad knows. He found Celty and brought her safely here~" After a moment of silence, a horrified expression appeared on Shinra's face.

"Don't tell anyone! They'll kill her!"

"Will they now~?" Izaya purred. Shinra was immediately kicking himself for saying that to Izaya, the Village Troll.

Before either could react, Izaya swooped the head from the table, holding it high above his head. He stared up at it, grinning. Sure, it wasn't human, but it was really interesting!

Shinra flailed uncertainly as Izaya and the head seemed to have a staring contest.

Celty waved her arms about and tried to get the head back from Izaya. After all, it was her head. She needed it!  
The head itself just stared at Izaya, blinking several times before observing him.

"If you let me study this head whenever I want, I won't' tell a soul."

Shinra glanced at Celty. "It isn't my call. That's Celty's head."

Smoke came from Celty's neck, but she nodded. After all, she couldn't just die. And it wasn't like he was keeping the head. Just coming over to study it at times.

Izaya smirked and set the head back down, feeling satisfied for the first time in a long time. The whole time Shizuo had lived with them, it was always the twins whining at him, yelling at him, trying to manipulate him in some way for the dragon's benefit. It was great to be the one manipulating again~

That's the way it should be, especially in his own home. With that in mind, Izaya whirled for the door and hurried home, calling a cheerful "See you soon~!" over his shoulder.

When he got home, he was in the trolling mood. His sisters, the dragon. It didn't matter. He just wanted to troll someone.  
"Welcome home Iza-nii~"

"Really? Or do you just want something?" He smirked as he strolled past. "Because if you want something, then too bad. Because you don't need anything."

Kururi frowned up at her brother. He was acting strange. "Ask." We didn't ask for anything.

Izaya leered at his little sisters. "You don't have to. I know you want something from me. That's ALL you've been doing lately! Taking everything you need from me! If you're old enough to make adult decisions like bringing a dragon to our village, and PUTTING HIM IN MY BED, why don't you go get a job and support yourselves~?"

Both Mairu and Kururi frowned. "Mean..." Izaya was being mean. But why.

"Oh? I'm being mean? How about you two ganging up on me and guilt-tripping me into letting the dragon stay. Into thinking he's good. I've given up comfort all because of you two. And I don't get a thing in return. Just the dragon staying here." He spat on the ground, a sour taste in his mouth.  
"Yeah. I'm so mean." Now, he didn't really want to stay in the house, so he turned and walked out, just to take a walk.

Kururi sighed. They had been pushing him pretty hard lately, but it was for Shizuo, so it was okay. Right?

"Don't worry Kururi, once Shizuo is completely healed and goes home, Iza-nii will feel differently," Mairu said, a sly grin on her face. Kururi tilted her head curiously.

"How?"

"Isn't it obvious~?" Mairu purred. Kururi just shook her head.

Mairu smirked. "C'mon, think about it. Iza-nii and Shizuo have been sharing a bed for a while now~"

The quieter of the two mulled this over for a bit, and suddenly her face flamed bright red. "W-what?"

"You know what I mean!" Mairu laughed, heading over to their brother's room. Where Shizuo was, and where he would be able to hear Mairu if she didn't shut up.

"Mairu!" Kururi exclaimed, still blushing brightly, reaching out and tugging her loud sister away from Izaya's room.

"What?" Mairu said, looking surprised by her sister's red face. "Isn't it obvious? Winter's coming."

Kururi shook her head as if that would rid it of her confusion. "So?"

"So? So if Shizuo's gone and Iza-nii is used to his body heat, he'll be freezing! Then he'll definitely regret Shizuo leaving."

"..."

"What did you think I meant?"

"..."

Mairu laughed and shook her head. "Silly Kuru. That comes later if Iza-nii can ever forget his hate."

Kururi's face burned even redder. "But..."

"Yes yes. For it to happen, Shizuo has to feel for him too. That's why we're gonna make him fall for Iza-nii."

"...How...?"

"Of course, by telling him all of Iza-nii's strong points~ Why else would I lead you over here?"

"..."

Grinning widely, Mairu took her sister's hand and lead her to their brother's room. Just as she raised her hand to open the door, Kururi tensed and started pulling away. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"...Like." I don't think they like each other. At all.

"Well, Iza-nii likes him. He could have left him in the forest. He could have made him stay at the healer's house. He could have at least made him sleep somewhere other than in his bed. But he didn't~"

"Us...?" Wasn't that because of us though...?

Mairu snorted. "When has he ever listened to us? About anything?"

Kururi was quiet for a moment before nodding. "Right." You're right.

"I bet he just doesn't realize it himself yet. So let's go." Grinning, Mairu pushed opened the door. "Shizuo~ We're here to keep you company."

The blond man smiled lightly and waved. "It's nice of you two." He sighed then. "I'll be leaving soon. Almost fully healed."

Kururi nodded. "Know. Time."

"Yeah~ We wanna spend time with you. And talk about our brother."

"Why?" Shizuo frowned a bit.

"Because." Kururi answered.

"Just because?" Shizuo asked, confused. A shadow fell over the blonde face. "Is he angry at me? Does he want me to leave again?"

"No!" The twins said together hurriedly. Shizuo raised an eyebrow at their reaction.

"...He DOESN'T want me to leave?"

"Yes." they replied.

"And why is that?" Shizuo asked, even more confused now than he was before.

"...Winter?" Kururi offered lamely.

"What does winter have to do with anything?"

"Iza-nii gets cold easy. And you have body heat."

Shizuo frowned a bit, not fully believing them. "I don't think he'd let me stay just because of that. After all, he could get more blankets."

Mairu frowned. This was harder then he thought. They would have to highlight good things about their brother, huh?

"Well, what we're trying to say is, I know it seems like Iza-nii doesn't like you, but he really does!"Mairu explained, Kururi nodding along with her.

"...He does?"

"Yeah! Both Iza-nii and I were wary of you at first, because we just don't trust dragons in general! But we KNOW you're different, that's why Iza-nii lets you stay here!"

Slowly, he nodded. "Alright. I get it. Don't tell him though, right?"

Both twins nodded, though it was Mairu that spoke. "Right! Iza-nii likes being in control of things. It's like a safety net that lets him take care of us. Take it away and he might start hating everyone."

"Pretend."

"Pretend... Like I don't know anything?"

Kururi nodded. "Mmm-hmm. This way, when Iza-nii makes you leave, which he's gonna to keep that 'control', he'll also do something else. Maybe he'll walk with you part of the way. Or maybe even invite you to visit. You just gotta wait and see!"

Shizuo's spirits lifted, and he nodded again. "Alright. Thank you." He was grinning now.

"Welcome... Shizu-nii." Shizuo's face went blank and Mairu let out a little gasp.  
"Shizu... nii?" The blonde asked, looking uncertain. Kururi nodded firmly. Mairu laughed nervously. "Well, you have been living with us for a while now, and you've done a lot for us... Shizu-nii."

Shizuo smiled now. Shizu-nii was similar to what his brother called him, which was just nii-san. It made him feel loved. "Thank you. Anyway, I'll go and rest now. Likely, I'll have to leave when your brother is here. But not for long. Not with what you've told me."

The twins nodded, feeling accomplished. Shizuo was so understanding, how could their brother not accept him? Kururi hugged him carefully and her sister followed suit after a second of hesitation. "Good night," they murmured as they left.

Shizuo smiled and tried to relax. Surely that after he left wouldn't be the last time he saw the two little sisters... his two little sisters.

He smiled and headed to the bed before crawling in. Izaya would have to come back sooner or later.

And that he did. Frowning as he did. "Leave. You're healed."

Shizuo chuckled weakly. "It's a bit late, isn't it? Aren't you tired?"

Izaya's frowned deepened and he sighed in frustration. "Don't try to distract me."

"I'm not. I'm just saying it's late. I'll leave in the morning. And you should rest too."

Izaya's frown deepened even more. "Fine. But first thing in the morning, go. No breakfast either."

"...Fine."

Shizuo turned away and curled up into a ball, feeling bereft. Sure, the twins told him why Izaya was acting this way, but that didn't mean it was any less upsetting. "Good night then."

"...Good night," Izaya muttered, crawling into his side of the bed. He wasn't blushing, no way, not at all. It wasn't his fault that he got cold at night or that the stupid dragon in his bed liked to get cuddly in his sleep.

It was because Dragons usually slept alone, curled up in dragon form, unless sick.  
Shizuo fell asleep soon enough, and turned to face Izaya in sleep. Of course that made him blush a bit more.

"Just ignore him, he's asleep, you should sleep too..." Izaya whispered to himself, almost mouthing the words. But... Izaya couldn't sleep. It was too cold. He had gotten too used to the dragon's naturally high body heat. Cursing himself, Izaya inched just a bit closer.

Shizuo smiled lightly in his sleep and turned towards Izaya, one arm wrapping around him. It was comfy, and he liked to be close to someone while in his human form.

Izaya stiffened and glared at Shizuo's sleeping face. He should have kicked him out, waiting till morning be damned. Izaya had slept alone for years, he didn't need anyone else! Especially not a dragon! Even though he was very warm...

Shizuo smiled a bit more and nuzzled his face in the crook of Izaya's neck before continuing to sleep peacefully.

Izaya squirmed a bit, heat flaring in his face. He leaned out from the other's arm, causing the blanket to slip down and expose his bare neck to the cold. Hissing, he instinctively pressed closer to Shizuo. When he realized that in an attempt to get away from the dragon in his bed, he had in fact gotten closer to said dragon, he mentally facepalmed. As if sensing his defeat Shizuo hummed contentedly in his sleep and hugged Izaya closer to him. Izaya made a face at him.

Not that Shizuo noticed at all. After all, he was asleep.

When morning did come, Shizuo yawned and sat up before rubbing his eyes. Seeing as he had sat up and gotten away from Izaya before noticing he had held the other close, he didn't know he had been. Izaya was still asleep, and most likely the twins were too.

/Ah. I said I'd leave now. Without breakfast. So I'll go now./ Slowly and quietly, he slipped out of bed and started towards the door.

Izaya moaned in his sleep and grabbed for the blanket. Why was it cold? He wrapped himself up in a cocoon on his bed, but it still wasn't enough. Izaya sat up, rubbing at his eyes. Where did the warmth go? His sleep drunken mind wondered. He stumbled out of his room, still somewhat entangled in his blanket.

Shizuo sighed lightly as he exited the hut. It was cold out, but he didn't mind. Even in human form, he could feel his internal flame keeping him warm. Lucky too, else he'd have to have several layers of clothes. He sighed lightly as he stayed outside the hut for a bit. He didn't want to leave. He felt wanted there. But, he did have his clan, and if what the twins had said was true, then he'd at least be invited back.

Izaya sniffed as he stood in his house, feeling more coherent but still confused. What was he looking for...? As if following some long buried instinct, he made his way to the door and looked outside.

By then, Shizuo had started to walk away, heading back towards the forest to make his way back to his clan. He wasn't that far from the hut though.

Izaya's sharp eyes caught movement and focused on Shizuo's retreating back. "...Shizuo?" He called, feeling stupid. He wanted the dragon to leave, so why was he calling for him?

He stopped, hearing Izaya's voice. Though, he didn't turn to look at the raven yet. "Yeah?"

Izaya's hearing wasn't as great as his eyesight, and he really didn't want to have to yell and risk waking his sisters, so, cursing his lack of body heat, he made his way through the cold to Shizuo.

Shizuo turned now and started to walk towards Izaya, figuring that he couldn't hear him from the distance. "What is it, Izaya?"

"Um..." Izaya stood there, attempting to rub some heat into his arms, feeling oddly vulnerable without his fluffy coat. "So... you're going now?"

"Yeah. You told me to, and I don't really have to heal anymore." He shrugged.

"Yeah, I can see that," Izaya grumbled to himself, before continuing louder. "I'll probably catch hell from Mairu and Kururi later for letting you go without giving them a chance to say goodbye..." he trailed off, wondering where he was going with this.

"They know I'm going. While you were out, they pretty much spent the whole day with me yesterday." Since Izaya was gone until it was bedtime the day before.

"Still," the raven haired man shrugged. "They really like you. More than anybody in the village. More than me."

Shizuo rolled his eyes. "You should spend more time with them. You'd be surprised."

Izaya pursed his lips. "W-what's that supposed to m-mean?" Shit, it really was cold out.

"They care for you. They talked a bit about it. But they also don't really seem like they think that you care for them." He was stuttering? Ah, he was cold out.

Izaya scowled, embarrassed by his little imperfection. "O-of course I care for them. I've been taking care of them since our parents d-died, I went to rescue them, I even let them stick you in my BED."

Shizuo sighed lightly. "Yeah. But take yesterday. You were out the entire time leaving them with me, who you just want gone. It tells them that you'd rather stick them with someone you don't trust then be with them yourself." He sighed again. "Of course, that won't be a problem, seeing as I'm going home."

"It's not like I'm out of the h-house just to a-avoid them, I have things I need to do... Ah whatever, I didn't come out here to argue with you a-anyway," Izaya finished, pouting unconsciously.

Shizuo laughed a bit. "Then don't argue. And you should try to spend at least some more time with them. Anyway, do you have something to say, or shall I leave?"

Izaya shifted on his feet, pondering. Did he have something to say? Maybe he did. He couldn't seem to remember. What if Shizuo left and only then did he realize what he wanted to say. "I have s-something to say. Just come inside a-and have breakfast first." Without waiting for a response, Izaya turned and marched back inside so he could warm up and stop stuttering like an idiot.

Shizuo smiled lightly before following. The twins were right. That was good.

**I put off editing this, but then it was time to sleep and I didn't want to wait till tomorrow to post so sorry for typos and stuff! Now review! Or I shall wait a really long time to update. Again. Maybe. So… goodnight! **

**Icywarm: Aww. Night.**


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